SARATOGA SPRINGS– Saratoga Jewish Community Arts (SJCA) will present on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. a panel discussion on Zoom of the 1962 award-winning film “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The program is part of SJCA’s social justice series.

The film starring Gregory Peck and directed by Rubert Mulligan, is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Harper Lee.

“The film, “To Kill a Mockingbird” has inspired discussions on race, morality and social change. The film’s release coincided with a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement and contributed to public discourse on racial justice,” assertes Phyllis Wang, coordinator for the Saratoga Jewish Community Arts. “The contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds of the characters highlight the barriers to change imposed by societal norms.”

The film tells the story of Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer and widower father in the deep South who passionately defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Set in Alabama during the Great Depression, the film raises powerful questions about poverty, racism and injustice germane to the modern civil rights movement.

Registration for this, and future SJCA programs, may be obtained on the SJCA Home Page by visiting https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/cu/9HjgRFz/SJCAHomePage. A playbill and Zoom link will be sent to registrants about a day before the program, followed by a last minute reminder shortly before the program.