Was inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry on December 13, 2017, the day after Doug Jones, the US Attorney who prosecuted the trial, was elected to the Senate.
Denise McNair was a friend and classmate of future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Spike Lee first became interested in making a film about the Birmingham bombing as a student at New York University in 1983. After reading a New York Times Magazine article about the incident, he was moved to write to Chris McNair, the father of Denise, one of the victims, asking for permission to tell her story on film. McNair turned down the young, aspiring filmmaker's offer. According to McNair, he changed his mind about supporting Lee's film idea due to learning about the depth and precision of Lee's research.
Spike Lee had first intended to create a dramatic reproduction of the incident before shifting to a documentary.
Spike Lee and his wife stayed at Birmingham's Tutwiler hotel while filming the documentary. It was once a nursing home for retired teachers, and is located 5 blocks from 16th Street Baptist Church.