The American Film Institute (AFI), in conjunction with USA Network and Universal Pictures, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of  TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at the White House on Thursday, April 5 and with the nation on Saturday, April 7.

AFI was created in the White House Rose Garden in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson set a national mandate to “bring together leading artists of the film industry, outstanding educators and young men and women who wish to pursue the art form as their life’s work.”

President Obama will introduce the film at a special screening in the White House Family Theater with an audience that includes children from DC area schools as well as Mary Badham, who portrayed Scout in the film; Gregory Peck’s family, including wife Veronique; and AFI Trustees Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman of Sony Corporation, Ron Meyer, President and COO of Universal Studios and Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO.

Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, is also expected to attend. President Obama will then celebrate the film with the nation through a special primetime broadcast onUSA Network at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on April 7.

“I’m deeply honored that President Obama will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by introducing it to a national audience,” said Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel on which the movie is based. “I believe it remains the best translation of a book to film ever made, and I’m proud to know that Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch lives on – in a world that needs him now more than ever.”

“TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is an American treasure – a film of family and fatherhood, justice and equality – all so richly embodied in the character of Atticus Finch,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO.  “We are honored to screen the film in the White House, where AFI was born, and to partner with USA Network and Universal Pictures to inspire generations of movie lovers to discover and rediscover this classic American film.”

AFI proposed the anniversary celebration to the White House in early January and learned last month that President Obama would be available to participate on April 5 – a timely date as it marks the late Gregory Peck’s 96th birthday. Peck had a long association with the American Film Institute, serving as Founding Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees from 1967 to 1969, and receiving the AFI Life Achievement Award– the highest honor for a career in film – in 1989.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD ranks 25th on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list of greatest American films, and AFI named Atticus Finch the greatest hero in this history of American film when it announced itsAFI’s 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains list in 2003.

AFI also recognized the film for its #1 ranking of Best Courtroom Dramas in AFI’s 10 Top 10 list and its #2 ranking on AFI’s 100 Years…100 CheersAmerica’s Most Inspiring Films list, just behind IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The film, which premiered in Los Angeles on Christmas day in 1962 and opened wide in 1963, was directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will showcase a new digital restoration of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in celebration of the film’s 50th anniversary on Wednesday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The evening will feature an introduction by talk show host Tavis Smiley and an onstage discussion with Oscar-nominated actress Mary Badham. The digital restoration is courtesy of Universal Pictures, which is marking its centennial this year.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) became as much of a classic as its source, and the defining film of Gregory Peck’s career. Produced by Alan J. Pakula and directed by Robert Mulligan, the film features Peck as a Depression-era lawyer struggling against a prejudiced system to exonerate an African-American man falsely accused of rape.

For his iconic portrayal of Atticus Finch, Peck earned his fifth Best Actor nomination and only Oscar. Co-star Robert Duvall made his film debut as the mysterious Boo Radley, while a 10-year-old Badham also made her first screen appearance as Atticus’s daughter Scout. The film unfolds as a coming-of-age story, as Scout learns about injustice, human frailties and the definition of heroism. Badham’s Oscar nomination for her performance made her the youngest actress with that honor at the time.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” earned a total of eight Academy Award nominations and won three awards. In addition to the aforementioned, it received Oscars for Black-and-White Art Direction (Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead; Set Decoration: Oliver Emert) and Adapted Screenplay (Horton Foote), and nominations for Black-and-White Cinematography (Russell Harlan), Directing (Mulligan), Original Score (Elmer Bernstein) and Best Picture (Pakula, producer).

The celebration will continue the following day, when the Academy will screen “To Kill a Mockingbird” for 400 Los Angeles Unified School District high school students as part of its ongoing Media Literacy Program. The film’s remarkable ability to connect with viewers of all ages and backgrounds has made it a versatile teaching tool.

Tickets for “To Kill a Mockingbird” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office, or by mail. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved. For more information, visit www.oscars.org.

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