First lady Michelle Obama. Photo / AP
Michelle Obama has gushed over the Oscar-nominated film Beasts of the Southern Wild, calling it one of the "most powerful and most important" movies in a long time in a ringing endorsement delivered less than two weeks before this month's Academy Awards ceremony.
The US first lady commented during a
Black History Month workshop on Wednesday at the White House for about 80 middle- and high-school students from the District of Columbia and New Orleans. The movie was set in Louisiana.
Students saw the film, then got to question director Benh Zeitlin and actors Dwight Henry and nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis. Wallis stars in the mythical tale of a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy struggling to survive in the southern Delta with her ailing father as a storm approaches. Her world consists of a tight-knit, shantytown community on the bayou with wild animals, both real and imagined.
The film won four Oscar nominations, including for best picture, best actress and directing.
Michelle Obama said she saw the 93-minute film over the US summer with a large group of friends and family who ranged in age from three to 73, and they were enthralled by it.
