Private Screening for ‘Selma’ Movie Held in Montgomery
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The movie SELMA premiered for the very first time in Alabama tonight to an audience that included the governor. The AMC theater on Vaughn road in Festival Plaza held a private screening of the film. Alabama News Network was there all night for the event as the exclusive television sponsor.
The movie got rave reviews from everyone we spoke with. Movie goers tell us they thought the film did the events of the past justice
The movie Selma doesn’t come out until Friday but some people were treated to a special screening of the film Tuesday evening. Governor Robert Bentley was one of them. He arrived at the AMC theater in Festival Plaza and addressed the crowd before the movie started.
“It is our history,” he said. “And we should always remember that history, whatever that history is. We need to remember it and we should learn from the past.”
Someone who knows firsthand the turmoil from the Civil Rights Movement is Robert Graetz. Graetz pastored a black congregation through the 50’s and 60’s and marched in the Selma to Montgomery March.
“The details don’t make that much difference as long as were focusing on the dream that Dr. King had of a beloved community that will bring all of us together across racial lines, across all of the lines that separate us.”
His wife of 64 years, Jean Graetz, says the film will bring back memories.
“We keep hearing that it’s just a movie, it’s not a documentary but it’s going to remind us of a lot of special things that happened,” she says.
As the exclusive Selma Movie television station, Alabama News Network gave out 50 tickets to the screening. Movie goers were anxious to catch the film, which was shot in parts of Selma and Montgomery.
“I was a child when a lot of these events in Alabama history occurred,” Montgomery resident Mary Smith said. “And I’m very grateful for the sacrifices that so many people made for my ability to have a quality and opportunities in the state of Alabama.
After the screening, Governor Bentley told us had he been governor back then, things may have been different.
“I would not have tolerated it,” he said. “I would not have allowed my law enforcement to act like that. I would have protected the people.”
