Obama to host 'Selma' screening, a day after Oscar snub

David Jackson, USA TODAY 8:05 a.m. EST January 16, 2015This photo released by Paramount Pictures shows, David Oyelowo, center, as Martin Luther King Jr. and Carmen Ejogo, right, as Coretta Scott King in the film "Selma," from Paramount Pictures and Pathe.(Photo: Atsushi Nishijima, AP)

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Lyndon JohnsonOprah WinfreyMartin Luther King Jr.Whether by design or not, the White House is inserting itself into the Oscar dispute surrounding the civil rights film Selma.President Obama is hosting a screening of Selma on Friday, one day after critics said the Academy Awards snubbed the film about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Alabama civil rights march of 1965.The film is nominated for best picture and best song, but that's it. The academy passed over director Ava DuVernay and lead actor David Oyelowo for nominations, surprising many observers and angering others.Those omissions marked a series of complaints about this year's Oscar nominations. As USA TODAY put it: "Diversity in Hollywood took another blow with Thursday morning's Oscar nominations, which saw no people of color nominated for acting and major snubs of the MLK biopic Selma."NEWS: Oscar diversity: Twitter, Academy on 'Selma' snubsThe White House has been planning the Selma screening for a while, and the event is designed to kick off the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.Selma cast and crew members are invited to the screening, and celebrity watchers will be on the lookout for DuVernay and Oyelowo, as well as film producer Oprah Winfrey.Even before the Oscar nominations, Selma has been the subject of controversy. Historians have criticized the film for its treatment of one of Obama's successors. President Lyndon B. Johnson.Without a net, a look at death defying stuntsJan 15, 2015