JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Film Commission will videotape an airing of the controversial movie 'Beulah Land' for a Friday invitation-only screening of the film that was blacked out by black-owned Jackson television station WLBT.
The Film Commission initially planned a gala reception for Tuesday's inaugural broadcast of the three-day NBC mini-series, but the decision by WLBT will prevent it from being shown in Jackson and a large segment of the state.
WLBT blamed recent racial tensions in Jackson, stemming from the police shooting of a pregnant black woman, for its decision.
The movie was filmed entirely in Natchez, and Ward Emling of the commission staff said it would be taped from a broadcast on WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg. He said 80 to 100 people, many of them local actors with speaking roles in the movie, would be invited to the Friday screening.
'I guess you could say this is the Jackson premiere,' Emling said.
'This originally started out as a reception but since WLBT (Jackson television station) decided not to run it, we changed it from Tuesday to Friday and added a wide screen so people can watch 'Beulah Land' as they arrive for the reception,' he said.
WLBT's black general manager, William L. Dilday Jr., announced last week the station would not broadcast the movie. The station has been interrupting NBC promotions on the movie since early last week and plans to run a series of movies in the Tuesday through Thursday time slots set aside for the film.
The decision to black out the movie in Jackson also kept it from cable viewers without access to other NBC affiliates in Tupelo, Hattiesburg, New Orleans, and Alexandria, La.
The Film Commission called the action 'censorship' and Natchez Mayor Tony Byrne said it was a slap in the face to the river city and other Mississippians.
Dilday, one of the few black television station managers in the country, said the WLBT board would not rescind its decision.
'We have never censured, never pulled a show here,' Dilday said. 'I personally dislike to do so, but there comes a point when my own personal views must give way to civic responsibility, and that's the way the WLBT board felt, too.'
WLBT was one of two stations in the country not broadcasting the movie. Officials with WBAL-TV in Baltimore said they made a decision several weeks ago to show 'Roots' instead of 'Beulah Land.'
