WS Chronicle

The Hallmark Channel movie “The Watsons Go To Birmingham” will premiere tonight, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.

The movie is adapted from the book “The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963,” which earned author Christopher Paul Curtis the prestigious 1996 Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor Award and tells the story of an African American family from Flint, Mich. who find their lives forever changed after a road trip to Birmingham, Ala.

The film stars Tony winner and Grammy Award nominee Anika Noni Rose, whose credits include “The Good Wife” and “Dreamgirls” and Wood Harris of the “The Wire” and “Remember the Titans” fame. Co-stars include Harrison Knight, Bryce Clyde Jenkins, Skai Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Pauletta Washington and David Alan Grier.

The Watsons’ Southern trip coincides with a tumultuous time in the Civil Rights Movement. Filmmakers hope the Watson family will serve as the prism through which the audience views a moment of revolutionary change in America.

The film is produced by Tonya Lewis Lee and directed by Kenny Leon.

“I decided that I wanted to work on ‘The Watsons Go to Birmingham’ as soon as I read the book,” Lee told the Huffington Post. “I felt like I had an understanding of the characters and I thought I could really help bring it to life.”