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4 Little Girls

Play trailer Poster for 4 Little Girls 1997 1h 42m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 23 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
On Sunday, September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by four members of a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated racist group. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, four African-American girls between the ages of 11 and 14 who had been attending the church's Sunday school, were killed in the blast. Director Spike Lee's somber 1997 documentary tells the story through new interviews and archival footage.
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4 Little Girls

4 Little Girls

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Critics Consensus

4 Little Girls finds Spike Lee moving into documentary filmmaking with his signature style intact -- and all the palpable fury the subject requires.

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Critics Reviews

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John Leonard New York Magazine/Vulture Feb 1, 2018
Only a filmmaker so resourceful, so entirely confident in his practiced craft, could have made such a quilt out of patches of nightmare and nostalgia -- of gospels, ghosts, and grief. Go to Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Sep 22, 2008
There isn't an ounce of flab or hype, and the story it tells is profoundly affecting. Go to Full Review Todd McCarthy Variety May 16, 2008
A compelling, straightforward account of a deeply sorrowful and pivotal event in the civil rights movement. Go to Full Review Thrillist Entertainment Staff Thrillist Nov 28, 2018
4 Little Girls is a masterpiece that needs to be seen and remembered. Go to Full Review Rob Nelson City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul Aug 20, 2009
Spike Lee has launched another perfectly timed counteroffensive: a calmly wrenching mix of oral history and period newsreels. Go to Full Review Maitland McDonagh TV Guide Sep 22, 2008
3/4
Time and tragedy may have flattened the four girls into remote paragons of youthful virtue, but the viciousness of anti-integrationist rhetoric is palpable and should never be forgotten. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Hanik_ F @RT99193473 Mar 3, 2025 so inteleggent film for 4 little girls, omg its very good See more Anindya Salwa F @RT75386933 Mar 2, 2025 wow, that's amazing, the movie is so cool, very good See more tugas2022 T @RT98218957 Mar 2, 2025 So good film i like this action See more Darmiati T @RT68946708 Mar 2, 2025 Gaa bikin bosen film nya See more Feb 16, 2021 All dol respect to the victims - of this senseless act of cowardice, but it really was a snooze. I understand that there needs to be time given to talk about the family members and so on, but I really could not keep myself engaged while all of that was going on. I do know that in '97 things weren't 100% what they are now in TV but still, all the reasons in the world wouldn't make this interesting and God knows there is a lot to dive into with a church bombing. See more Sep 15, 2020 Watched this tonight on what is the 57th anniversary of the Birmingham church bombing. Excellent documentary with interviews of the families affected by this senseless terrorist act. There is a clip with Bill Cosby being interviewed though that I'll bet Spike wishes he could take back. See more Read all reviews
4 Little Girls

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Cast & Crew

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Spike Lee

Director

Maxine McNair

Self

Helen Pegues

Self

Harold McNair

Self

Sheila Nevins

Executive Producer

Sam Pollard

Producer

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4 Little Girls

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Movie Info

Synopsis On Sunday, September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by four members of a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated racist group. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, four African-American girls between the ages of 11 and 14 who had been attending the church's Sunday school, were killed in the blast. Director Spike Lee's somber 1997 documentary tells the story through new interviews and archival footage.
Director
Spike Lee
Producer
Sam Pollard
Distributor
Direct Cinema Limited
Production Co
Home Box Office (HBO), 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 9, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$130.1K
Runtime
1h 42m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround
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