Blackfilm’s Wilson Morales reported today that director Ava Duvernay screened about five minutes’ worth of Selma (Paramount, 12.25), the broad-canvas ’60s-era civil rights drama, last night at the Urbanworld Film Festival. A discussion with Duvernay and star David Oyelowo, who plays Martin Luther King, was moderated by Urbanworld executive producer Gabrielle Glore.

“Based on the two clips presented, which ran a total of five minutes, David is good enough to be in conversation for one of the five Best Actor slots,” says Morales. “He embodies King. If you watch the video, he was asked about being a Brit playing MLK and he said ‘If Meryl Streep can play Margaret Thatcher, then I can play Dr. King.’

“The two clips looked promising in general but [we’ll] need to see more to estimate if Selma can generate Oscar talk,” Morales adds. “You and I know that by the start of December, a lot of minds will be made up…unless Clint Eastwood waits [until] the last minute to promote American Sniper, which also opens on 12.25, like he did with Million Dollar Baby.”