In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Vashon Center for the Arts will present a free film screening of “Selma,” the Oscar-nominated film directed by Ava DuVernay, at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19.

The acclaimed 2014 film, starring David Oyelowo, chronicles a tumultuous three-month period in 1965 when King led the movement to secure equal voting rights for Black Americans — a campaign that culminated in an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

Facing violent and racist opposition, including a grim smear campaign led by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, King’s leadership culminated in President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories of the civil rights era.

Critics praised the virtuosity, scale and scope of the film — as well as pointing to it as an enduring true narrative of racism in America.

“A movie like ‘Selma’ should be a relic,” Time magazine critic Richard Corliss wrote. “Instead, it is a reminder that the ‘American problem’ has yet to be solved.”

Islander Benjamin Hunter, the artistic director of Seattle’s Northwest Folklife Festival and a nationally known composer, musician and musical director, will lead a panel discussion and conversation with the audience following the film screening.

Hunter will be joined on the panel by islander John Midgley, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Washington.

VCA’s MLK Day event is its eighth annual presentation, honoring King’s call for justice, change, education, equality and service.

Find out more about the event at vashoncenterforthearts.org.