Documenting a Movement: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first signed into law in 1983, officially creating a federal holiday to honor this prominent leader of the 1960s civil rights movement. Ninety-five years after King Jr. was born, the Academy Museum pays tribute to his impact and legacy with two films showcasing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In the historic short film The March, filmmaker James Blue documents this significant moment with over a dozen camera and sound technicians capturing over 11 hours of footage and audio, culminating at the nation’s capital with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. For the feature film The Bus, activist filmmaker Haskell Wexler boarded a bus in San Francisco with a group of Black and white activists to embark on the three-day, cross-country journey to Washington DC to join the March. Following the two films, scholar Ellen Scott from UCLA, and local activist Ben Caldwell, along with two emerging filmmakers who participated in the Academy Museum’s Promise workshops will discuss the enduring importance of speaking truth to power through the documentation of political movements.

Programmed by Lohanne Cook, K.J. Relth-Miller, and Eduardo Sanchez.
Note by K.J. Relth-Miller.

The March  
Added to the National Film Registry in 2008. 
DIRECTED BY: James Blue. WITH: Carl Rowan, Marian Anderson, Joan Baez, James L. Farmer Jr. 1964. 33 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm. Print courtesy of the George Stevens Collection at the Academy Film Archive. Special thanks to George Stevens, Jr.

The Bus  
DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Haskell Wexler. 1965. 63 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm. Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restoration funding provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.

Theater accessibility accommodations available upon request. Learn more about our accessibility initiatives.