NEGOTIATION. Demonstration. Resistance. The three tactical pillars of the 1965 campaign led by Martin Luther King Jun. that pressured Lyndon Baines Johnson into driving the Voting Rights Act through the US Congress.

Paul Kelly’s screenplay for Ava DuVernay’s film tells that story with passion and deep commitment to verity. If you want to know the plot before seeing the film, “Selma to Montgomery marches” on Wikipedia tells it all.

Ava DuVernay is a black filmmaker. Could a white one have so formidably managed such an enormous group of black actors, some with speaking roles, most simply coming along to silently establish crowd scenes?

David Oyelowo plays King with personal gravitas and convincing oratory. As LBJ, Tom Wilkinson displays the intensity we expect from this fine British actor who has found greener pastures, to our benefit as much as his own.

As Coretta King, Carmen Ejogo surpasses mere decoration. Oprah Winfrey plays Annie Lee Cooper, frustrated by the bureaucratic obfuscation of black people seeking voting registration in Alabama. Tim Roth is splendidly malevolent as Governor Wallace. Ledisi Young plays Mahalia Jackson, whose recorded singing is a delight.

Half a century next month since the march, “Selma” commemorates without compromising its depiction of politics, passion, prejudice, brutal violence, courage and shameful denial of moral and legal rights. Admire it. Is it relevant half a century later in Australia? You bet it is. Think how its issues match analogous issues here.

At Palace Electric, Dendy, Capitol 6, Limelight and Hoyts Belconnen from February 12.