Sisters of Selma

Following the brutal violence of March 7, 1965's “Bloody Sunday”—during which civil rights marchers in Selma, AL were brutally attacked by police officers—the marchers were joined by a small group of devoted followers whose contribution to the Civil Rights movement has not received much previous acknowledgment. Producer-director Jayasri Hart's Sisters of Selma describes how a group of Catholic nuns—most of them white—risked their own safety to walk side by side with African-American protesters during those turbulent times, combining archival footage with commentary from the surviving nuns, who were reunited in 2003 to review videotape of the marches and offer their reactions. Interwoven throughout are interview clips with other religious figures—Catholics and Protestants alike—as well as contemporary residents of Selma, who talk about the bravery and selflessness of these unsung heroes. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (E. Hulse)