A CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HARPER LEE’S TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Sponsored by the UNC Center for the Study of the American South, UNC School of Law, Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau, UNC Department of American Studies, and the Ackland Art Museum
Thursday, October 28, 2010 5 – 9 p.m.
As Harper Lee’s beloved novel To Kill a Mockingbird reaches its 50-year mark, Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill are coming together to offer a celebratory screening and discussion open to the campus community and the general public. The experience of watching the original film together on the big screen at the Varsity Theater will be enriched by a discussion in the theater afterward led by a panel of notable writers, each of whom has a deep appreciation of the story.
Leading the discussion will be writers Lee Smith, Jill McCorkle, Randall Kenan, Minrose Gwin, and Jaki Shelton Green. Actor John Feltch will comment on the experience of playing Atticus Finch. Gene Nichol, law professor and director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity, will serve as moderator. After the screening and discussion you are invited to a reception at the Ackland Art Museum, where we will enjoy homemade cakes provided by Carrie Boone’s Sweet Fingers Bakery, as well as other treats from the period of the novel. Period music will be playing from UNC’s Southern Folklife Collection.
- 5:00 p.m. – A screening of the film at the Varsity Theater, 123 E. Franklin St. (Admission to the film will be free with a UNC One Card, $3 for the general public.)
- 7:15 p.m. – Discussion led by a panel of writers in the Varsity Theater
- 8-9 p.m. – Reception with savories and sweets of the 1930’s South, Ackland Art Museum (Attendance at the reception is free but requires an RVSP).
To Kill a Mockingbird remains a deeply moving depiction of life in a small southern town. The story is specific to a historical moment, yet its themes remain central to our own world. We invite you to revisit the movie with us, to enjoy its gifts anew, and to engage in the intellectual challenges it presents to us after half a century—in the company of your classmates, colleagues, neighbors, and friends.