First Look at Anika Noni Rose in Tonya Lewis Lee’s ‘The Watsons Go to Birmingham’Posted by Wilson Morales
May 7, 2013
Source: Essence
Essence.com has been provided with the first look at producer Tonya Lewis Lee‘s upcoming film adaptation of historical fiction novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, which Lee also wrote.
An adaptation of Christopher Paul Curtis‘ 1995 novel, the film centers on an African American family living in the town of Flint, Michigan, who visit their grandmother’s home in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, a turbulent time during the civil rights movement.
The Hallmark Channel’s original movie will have its World Premiere on Friday, September 20 (8pm ET/PT, 7C).
Directed by Kenny Leon (Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias remake), the film stars Anika Noni Rose, David Alan Grier, Wood Harris, Skai Jackson, LaTanya Richardson, Bryce Jenkins, and Harrison Knight.
Set in the Summer of 1963, Flint, Michigan is home to the Watsons, a close knit “All American Family” made up of Daniel and Wilona Watson (Harris and Rose) and their three kids, 15 year-old juvenile delinquent Byron (Knight), nerdy 11 year-old Kenny (Jenkins) and eight year-old adorable sister Joetta (Jackson). When Byron’s antics go over the top, his parents realize enough is enough and they decide the family needs a dose of Grandma Sands (Richardson) no nonsense approach in Birmingham, Alabama.
So the Watsons load up the 1948 Plymouth Brown Bomber outfitted with a true tone Ultra-Glide turntable and head South with plenty of comedy en route. When they finally make it to Birmingham, they meet Grandma Sands and her friend, Mr. Robert (Grier), who show them around town, and the Watsons discover that life is very different there than in Flint – and not necessarily for the better. During that historic summer, the Watsons find themselves caught up in something far bigger than Byron’s antics. Something that will change their lives and country forever.
