There are few films that stir the heart and soul more than the 1962 classic To Kill A Mockingbird. To commemorate the Oscar-winning film’s 50th anniversary, President Barack Obama will introduce a special broadcast of a restored and digitally remastered print of the film on USA at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Saturday, April 7. EW
Obama will introduce the film at the White House Family Theater:
The American Film Institute (AFI), in conjunction with USA Network and Universal Pictures, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at the White House on Thursday, April 5 and with the nation on Saturday, April 7. AFI was created in the White House Rose Garden in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson set a national mandate to "bring together leading artists of the film industry, outstanding educators and young men and women who wish to pursue the art form as their life's work."
President Obama will introduce the film at a special screening in the White House Family Theater with an audience that includes children from DC area schools as well as Mary Badham, who portrayed Scout in the film; Gregory Peck's family, including wife Veronique; and AFI Trustees Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman of Sony Corporation, Ron Meyer, President and COO of Universal Studios and Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, is also expected to attend. President Obama will then celebrate the film with the nation through a special primetime broadcast on USA Network at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on April 7.
"I'm deeply honored that President Obama will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by introducing it to a national audience," said Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel on which the movie is based. "I believe it remains the best translation of a book to film ever made, and I'm proud to know that Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch lives on – in a world that needs him now more than ever." More at AFI
