On Tuesday, September 17, Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee Anika Noni Rose, Birmingham Alabama Mayor The Honorable William A. Bell, Tony Award nominated director Kenny Leon, Emmy® Award winning producer Nikki Silver, producer & writer Tonya Lewis Lee and actors Harrison Knight & Bryce Clyde Jenkins joined Hallmark Channel for a special screening and panel discussion of the network’s new original movie “The Watson’s Go To Birmingham,” premiering Friday, September 20 8pm EST/PST, 7C.
Upon the 50th anniversary of pivotal events in the Civil Rights movement, Hallmark Channel screened its new original movie in the Newseum in Washington D.C. and Birmingham Mayor Bell moderated a panel discussion with the cast and production team following the movie presentation. To bring the significant historical events to life from the 1963 Civil Rights movement, Birmingham Mayor William A. Bell brought and displayed artifacts from Birmingham for temporary showing at the Newseum during the event.
Based on Christopher Paul Curtis’ 1996 Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor Award winning book The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963, the film follows an all-American family on their road trip from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 during the midst of the Civil Rights movement. Their historic summer experience opens their eyes and gives them a newfound courage to stand up for what is right and helps them grow stronger as a family in the process.
The film is part of Hallmark Channel’s new Friday night appointment viewing franchise, “Walden Family Theater,” which is created in collaboration with Walmart, Procter & Gamble, award-winning family entertainment producer Walden Media (“The Chronicles Of Narnia,” “Bridge To Terabithia,” “Holes”) and fast-growing independent studio ARC Entertainment.
