The March/The Bus Double Feature
Director: Haskell Wexler, James Blue Run Time: 95 min.
Starring: Carl Rowan, Joan Baez, John Lewis, Marian Anderson, Martin Luther King Jr.
Join us for a special FREE double feature screening of two seminal documentaries (THE MARCH directed by James Blue and THE BUS directed by Haskell Wexler) to celebrate the 60 Anniversary of the March on Washington in August of 1963.
THE MARCH (1964, 33 minutes)
James Blue’s The March, which entered the National Film Registry in 2008, is a moving and visually stunning documentary on the hope and camaraderie embodied by the March on Washington. It was commissioned by the US Information Agency for screening abroad and was prevented from being shown domestically until a special act of Congress permitted USIA films to be shown in the US twelve years after their release. Blue filmed participants as they prepared for the March in their home cities, followed them as they traveled to Washington, and recorded their reactions as they listened for the first time to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic speech “I Have A Dream” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Edward R. Murrow once said TheMarch was “the finest argument for peaceful petition of redress of grievance that has ever been put on film.”
*Screenings of THE MARCH are made possible by The University of Oregon’s James Blue Project (https://jamesblue.uoregon.edu/)
THE BUS (1965, 62 minutes)
The struggle for civil rights has been one of the most important issues of American life for the last fifty years. In August of 1963, groups from all over the country journeyed to Washington D.C. for a massive demonstration, and this film is a fascinating document of this event. Celebrated filmmaker Haskell Wexler (“Medium Cool”) traveled with the San Francisco delegation, photographing and conversing candidly with the participants. He has succeeded admirably in capturing the significance and drama of this historic trip.
*Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restoration funding provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation