President Barack Obama Hosts Selma Screening at the White House: Oprah Winfrey, Common & More Attend

"Some people take their friends to the movies, I take the movies to my friends @selmamovie," Common wrote with a video on Instagram

By Bruna Nessif Jan 17, 2015 4:43 AMTags
David Oyelowo, SelmaParamount Pictures

There was a star-studded movie party at the White House tonight.

President Barack Obama hosted a private screening of the historical drama film Selma, which included guests Oprah Winfrey, Common, director Ava DuVernayDavid Oyelowo (who plays Martin Luther King Jr.), Carmen Ejogo (who portays Coretta Scott King) and actor Tim Roth (who portrays Gov. George Wallace).

Winfrey served as a producer for the film, and also portrayed civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper. Meanwhile, Common teamed up with John Legend for the movie's song, "Glory," which has already won a Golden Globe, Critics' Choice Award and is nominated for an Oscar.

YouTube

Common snuck a quick IG video for fans while at the screening, and captioned the clip, "Some people take their friends to the movies, I take the movies to my friends @selmamovie."

While the event included an array of big names from the film, one especially important attendee was Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).

Lewis helped lead the Selma-to-Montgomery march on March 7, 1965, that was stopped at the Edmund Pettus Bridge when state troopers attacked the demonstrators. He is currently a leader of the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee.

For those of us who weren't invited to the special screening (yup, that's pretty much all of us), you can catch Selma is in theaters now.