The Southern Poverty Law Center will screen a new documentary “Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot” Thursday night.

The film will be shown at Selma Community Church at 6 p.m. as part of a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer, the 40-minute film tells the story of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which turns 50 on Aug. 6.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. A trailer can be viewed at selma.splcenter.org.

“Our film is a documentary that tells an important story not touched on by the Hollywood feature,” said SPLC President Richard Cohen, executive producer of the documentary. “It’s the true story of the forgotten heroes, the courageous students and teachers in Selma who stood up against injustice despite facing intimidation, violence and arrest. We believe our film will inspire millions of young people to vote and to take action to help make their communities and our country stronger. It’s a crucial reminder that each of us has the ability to bring about powerful social change.”

The SPLC is making the documentary available with a community guide to civic and student groups across the country. It can be ordered free of charge at selma.splcenter.org for events such as voter registration drives, get-out-the-vote efforts and community screenings.

The SPLC is also distributing the documentary and a companion teaching kit free to educators across the country.

The film is the eighth classroom documentary produced by the SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance project. Four previous films have been nominated for Academy Awards, and two — A Time for Justice and Mighty Times: The Children’s March — have won the Oscar in the short documentary category.

Selma Community Church is located at 1209 Selma Ave.