Media powerhouse Oprah Winfrey was spotted in the Castro tonight at Poesia after the preview screening of her upcoming film "Selma."
In the Martin Luther King biopic, Winfrey plays civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper who, after waiting in line for hours to register to vote outside of the Dallas County Courthouse in 1965, is ordered to vacate by the county sheriff. After repeated jabs in the neck by the sheriff's billy club, Cooper turned around and punched the sheriff in the mouth. Cooper lived to be 100 years old.
Photo: Shaun Willett
The film follows the powerful story of the Selma to Montgomery marches during the Civil Rights Movement wherein Martin Luther King lead citizens of Selma, Alabama to march over 50 miles to the Alabama State Capital of Montgomery. King and community leaders wanted to talk with the Alabama Governor about the extreme violence and murder perpetrated against African Americans registering to vote in the predominately black city, where only 130 of the 15,000 blacks were registered. State and local police mercilessly beat marchers with billy clubs and tear gas in what is known as "Bloody Sunday."
The march eventually led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
Winfrey participated in a Q&A with fellow cast members and the film's director Ava DuVernay after the film, which according to Twitter users, received a five-minute standing ovation.
Post-SELMA: @Oprah, @AVAETC and David Oyelowo listen as Elvis Mitchell makes a point @Castro_Theatre. pic.twitter.com/FQzaYBOF5F
— Omar Moore (@popcornreel) November 17, 2014The film is slated for a limited release on December 25th, 2014, before opening wide on January 9th, 2015. Check out the trailer below:
