--- description: Teachers can also request companion study guides title: Every High School in America Is Getting a DVD of 'Selma' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1639ae8f66969ec/698782758e06017c2345aa85/ap329994693514-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Every High School in America Is Getting a Free DVD of _Selma_ by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2015 3:42 AM CUT  This photo released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, foreground: Colman Domingo as Ralph Abernathy, David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., André Holland as Andrew Young, and Stephan James as John Lewis in a scene from the film, "Selma," from Paramount Pictures, Pathé, and Harpo Films. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Atsushi Nishijima) This photo released by Paramount Pictures shows, from left, foreground: Colman Domingo as Ralph Abernathy, David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., André Holland as Andrew Young, and Stephan James as John Lewis in a scene from the film, "Selma," from Paramount Pictures, Pathé, and Harpo Films. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Atsushi Nishijima)Atsushi Nishijima—AP by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2015 3:42 AM CUT Paramount is sending a free DVD of _Selma_ to every high school in America, public and private, as part of an extended “_Selma_ for Students” initiative. Director Ava DuVernay made the announcement at a United Nations event on Thursday night where U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power was present. Companion study guides will also be made available to the nation’s tens of thousands of high schools for any teachers who want to teach the movie in their classrooms. The movie about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march from Montgomery to Selma, Ala. came at a pivotal time in American politics, hitting theaters between a spate of racially charged incidents of police brutality that sparked major protests. Paramount executive Megan Colligan pointed out in a statement that the nation’s high schoolers are a particularly important audience for the film. “With many of these students preparing to vote for the first time in next year’s elections,” she said, “it is especially fitting that they witness the bravery and fortitude of those who fought to establish the Voting Rights Act of 1965.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3833493/selma-dvd-high-schools/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3833493/selma-dvd-high-schools/"},"headline":"Every High School in America Is Getting a Free DVD of Selma","datePublished":"2015-04-24T03:42:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:37:48.401Z","description":"Teachers can also request companion study guides","url":"https://time.com/3833493/selma-dvd-high-schools/","keywords":["movies","United Nations","selma","ava duvernay"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1639ae8f66969ec/698782758e06017c2345aa85/ap329994693514-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1639ae8f66969ec/698782758e06017c2345aa85/ap329994693514-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A scene from SELMA.","caption":"A scene from SELMA.","creditText":"Atsushi Nishijima—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3833493/selma-dvd-high-schools/","name":"Every High School in America Is Getting a Free DVD of Selma"}}]}] ```