Momentum Builds For “The Watsons Go To Birmingham” As The Nation Remembers Four Little Girls

U.S. attorney general Eric Holder and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice were among the speakers at a memorial service on Sunday in Birmingham, while President Barack Obama released a statement on the anniversary of the 1963 bombing:

“Today, we remember Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley who were killed 50 years ago in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.  That horrific day in Birmingham, Alabama quickly became a defining moment for the Civil Rights Movement.  It galvanized Americans all across the country to stand up for equality and broadened support for a movement that would eventually lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Earlier this year, I was honored to meet with family members of those four precious little girls as America posthumously awarded them the Congressional Gold Medal, one of our nation’s highest civilian honors.”

“Watsons” screening at the Alabama Theater on 9/12

Directed by Kenny Leon, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham”follows an all American family on their summer road trip in 1963 from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama, where the Watsons family get a taste of life in the segregated south – an experience that gives them a newfound courage and brings them closer together.

Anticipation is building around the upcoming film, which has screened for standing room only audiences in Martha’s Vineyard, Atlanta, and Birmingham, where over 2,000 locals packed the Alabama Theater on September 12 to laugh and learn about a critical period in their city’s history. A premiere in Washington, D.C. is set for Tuesday.

“The Watsons Go to Birmingham” stars Tony® Award winner and Grammy® Award nominee Anika Noni Rose (“The Good Wife,” “Dreamgirls,” “The Princess and the Frog”) along with three-time Tony® Award nominee and Grammy® Award nominee David Alan Grier (“Porgy and Bess,” “PEEPLES,” “In Living Color”),Skai Jackson (“Jessie”), Wood Harris (“The Wire,” “Remember The Titans”), LaTanya Richardson Jackson (“The Fighting Temptations”), Pauletta Washington (“Beloved”), Bryce Clyde Jenkins (“Easy A,” “Have A Little Faith”) and Harrison Knight (“We the Party”).

Presented by ARC Entertainment, Walden Media, Walmart and Procter & Gamble, the film is an adaptation of Christopher Paul Curtis’ 1996 Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor Award winning bookThe Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963. “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” is produced by Nikki Silver andTonya Lewis Lee for ToniK Productions. The teleplay is by Tonya Lewis Lee and Stephen Glantz & Caliope Brattlestreet.

For more information, visit www.hallmarkchannel.com/thewatsonsgotobirmingham.

TWITTER: @HallmarkChannel, #WatsonsGoToBirmingham, #Watsons, @AnikaNoniRose, @WoodHarris, @davidalangrier, @OfficialSkai, @tonik_films, @tlewislee, @nssilver, @iamkennyleon

 NEWS COVERAGE FROM THE BIRMINGHAM SCREENING

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