By Blake Deshazo

The Selma Times-Journal

Students in Selma will get the chance to see their history books come to life on the silver screen when they see “Selma” the movie this weekend.

The Walton Theatre is hosting multiple showings of the movie on Saturday for Selma High School students and other participating schools.

“All of these kids weren’t even born during that time,” said Mayor George Evans. “So I’m sure to them they never realized what happened [in 1965] other than what they read in books and heard in stories that they were told.”

The showings for Selma High School students will be at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and are free, Evans said.

“It’s just an opportunity for our kids to just be a part of history and see their city,” said Selma High School Principal Aubrey Larkin. “They have an opportunity to see Selma on a daily basis, but they don’t know this Selma.”

Seeing the movie, Larkin said, will help students understand what people went through during the Civil Rights Movement.

“This is a good opportunity for them to get a different perspective on how it is that they have the freedoms that they enjoy today,” Larkin said.

Evans said he hopes the film will make a difference in students.

“Maybe it will change their mindset in terms of voting, in terms of how we live, how we get along, how we work together and how we get an education and all of that,” Evans said.“There’s a lot of history in that movie, not just from one side but a lot of sides. They need to know that, and they need to see it. It was not easy during that time, but it is history, and we grow from our history.”

But seeing the movie isn’t the only thing students in Selma will get to do this weekend. There will also be a question and answer session Sunday, Jan. 18 at 1:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Selma High School.

Members of the Paramount film crew, Evans said, as well as cast members will be present at the session to answer questions from students.

“[Students] will get an opportunity to ask pertinent questions about the movie itself,” Larkin said.

“[Students] will have an opportunity to talk directly to [cast members]. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it is something that many of them would not have an opportunity to do otherwise.”

Screenings for other schools will be Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., and a public showing will be held at 9:45 p.m. that same night.