Most of the time, the Oscars voting committee is out of their minds. This isn’t new. They thought “Crash” and “Chicago” were unequivocally the best movies of their respective years.

But for “Selma” to only receive two Oscar nominations (Best Picture and Best Original Song) is downright unthinkable.

Whether the predominantly white voters were unconsciously motivated by race, or some simply hadn’t seen the movie (which has happened in the recent past with “12 Years a Slave”), the fact that the acting and directing in “Selma” will go unrecognized during Hollywood’s most prominent awards show is nonsense.

Director Ava DuVernay has crafted something worth everyone’s attention with “Selma,” a film that takes on the monumental task of humanizing no less a figure than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo), and wildly succeeds in doing so.

Instead of being a broad biopic, the film follows King’s organization of marches and protests in Selma, Ala., in the mid-1960s with the goal of convincing the federal government to pass voting rights legislation.

That somewhat limited scope works well because nobody needs an origin story for King. Most Americans, on a basic level, know who he is. What “Selma” seeks to do, instead, is present him as a human being instead of a portrait next to an inspirational quote, as he is so often reduced to today.

Oyelowo’s performance is masterful because it offers something of a look at the human being instead of the figurehead. King’s powerful oration has been co-opted and warped in so many ways since his death that we forget who he was and what he really stood for.

We get to see King as a man whose actions were occasionally questioned by his allies and as a man whose commitment to nonviolence didn’t mean letting his oppressors walk all over him. Oyelowo channels how unsafe King must have felt as he was closely monitored by the FBI and threatened with death everywhere he went.

Special mention also needs to be made of Carmen Ejogo’s performance as Coretta Scott King. Ejogo shines as a character whose strong will and leadership rivaled her husband’s, a fact which has been forgotten with time, something that unfortunately tends to happen to women.

DuVernay’s directing is impressive, as well. The film is emotionally effective without being emotionally exploitative. Bradford Young’s cinematography is top notch, too, with each frame being exceptionally composed.

Many have written and will continue to write about the cultural significance of “Selma,” and how it relates to current racial oppression. It’s not my place to do that, but I can say that, as a film production and a piece of storytelling, “Selma” is wonderful and deserves much more recognition from the Hollywood elite than it’s received.