马丁·路德·金电影亮相洛杉矶

With Hollywood's award season just around the corner, the epic "Selma", about civil-rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King is making the rounds to raise its profile. Speaking at on the red carpet during the film's premiere in L.A, the cast says the historical epic still has resonance with the present.

"Selma" tells the story of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama voting-rights marches led by James Bevel, Hosea Williams, John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Despite having taken place nearly half a century ago, the film couldn't be more timely. "Selma" wrapped up principal photography just weeks before Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black teenager, was fatally shot by a white police officer. The killing led to riots in the town of Ferguson in the US state of Missouri, with sporadic protests continuing to this day.

"Well, here we are in a day and age where the voting rights that has literally, that was fought for in the film that we see, that the Selma march was about gaining voting rights, and those very rights that were won in 1965 are now being eroded in this country because, apparently, they are antiquated," actor of "Selma" David Oyelolo said. "Now, Ferguson is very evocative of what we shot, in terms of the film and what actually happened. So, it goes from being a period piece to something that feels very relevant, very timely."

Actor and musician Common portrays one of the Selma-march organizers. He says he learned a lot about the 60s civil-rights movement from working on "Selma".

"You have stand for something and be willing to give all up for that," Common said. "And that's what I really picked up from the film, and I also picked up that it was so many people who contributed to us being able to be here. Dr. King was the head. But it was so many people that offered their spirits, their heart and their bodies toward us being free, us being about to be here on this red carpet."

"Selma" also portrays the longtime friendship between Dr. King and gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, herself a civil-rights activist. In fact, it was Jackson who performed for 250,000 spectators just minutes before King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington D.C. in August 1963.

Directed by Ava DuVernay and co-starring and produced by Oprah Winfrey, "Selma" opens in Los Angeles and New York Christmas Day, qualifying it for the upcoming Academy Awards. It will then go into wide release in January.