4 Little Girls (1997)

Directed by legendary filmmaker Spike Lee, this 1997 documentary was a powerful and unflinching look at one of Birmingham’s most galvanizing criminal acts of the Civil Rights era, when four young African-American girls were murdered in cold blood by a group of white men in a horrific bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963. Killed during Sunday services, the bombing would set off a wave of protests and commemorations— both in the city and around the country— and remains one of the defining moments of not just the Civil Rights struggle, but of Birmingham’s sordid socio-political past. Utilizing archival footage from the day, and subsequent surrounding events and news reports from around the city and nation, along with interviews from eyewitnesses, family and friends, Lee would use his formidable narrative skills to bring the story forward and help keep the memory of Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair alive for generations to come. Combining heartwarming and humanizing portraits of the four little girls whose lives were ended far too soon, while contrasting them with the rank hatred and degrading behavior the Black community was subjected to on a daily basis in Birmingham and around the Deep South at the time, Lee’s split screen view of the two sides created an engagingly frank look at all of the elements that came together on that tragic day here in the Magic City.

Featuring interviews with iconic figures like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the Freedom Riders, Attorney General Bill Baxley, Walter Cronkite, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Birmingham native/New York Times editor Howell Raines, and arch-racist George Wallace, it’s a film that’s both hard to watch, and even harder to turn away from, given the harsh reality of the subject matter and the way Lee treats it with such clarity and tenderness. And although the film would make its world debut in New York City, its invite-only Birmingham premiere would take place at the Alabama Theatre on Sept. 13, 1997, with Lee in attendance, and subsequently ran at the Carver Theatre for two weeks from Sept. 19-Oct. 2, where local crowds gathered to witness the retelling of this tragic story just blocks from where the event actually unfolded. Following its release the film would go on to receive an Academy Award nomination for “Best Documentary, Features,” as well as several Emmy nominations, but sadly did not win in any category. Modern viewers will recognize many of the scenes and settings around downtown Birmingham, while others have faded into memory with changing buildings and facades now washed away by the sands of time, making this an even more vital document about Birmingham’s past, present and future. 

FUN FACT: In 2017, 4 Little Girls would be honored by being selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebuKaY0KIbI