The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963

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The Watsons is a feature film based on the award–winning book, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963.” On Screen has partnered with Tonya Lewis Lee and Chris Rock, who will star, on this project being developed for HBO Films.

Enter the hilarious world of the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan as narrated by 10–year–old Kenny. There’s Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who’s 13 and an “official juvenile delinquent.” When Momma and Dad decide it’s time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra–Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They’re heading South to Birmingham, Alabama where they are soon caught in the maelstrom of events of the emerging Civil Rights Movement.

The spectrum of emotions from comedy to tragedy make “The Watsons Go To Birmingham” a worthy Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor Book.  The characters are so rich, we are drawn into their world and are given a very vivid portrait of their everyday lives and their individual experience of the Civil Rights Era.

The Watsons reminds us that problems of today are not that different from those of 40 years ago.