When James Blue’s The March (1964) and Haskell Wexler’s The Bus (1965) are paired, they offer a striking cinematic portrayal of American citizens who journey to Washington DC to join the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963 (The Bus), and the experience of 240,000 Black and white Americans who participated in the event and witnessed Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech (The March).

After the screening, stay for a conversation between President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California, Pastor William Smart Jr., and David Frank, Rhetoric Professor at University of Oregon's Robert D. Clark Honors College.

Arrive early to view the related exhibition—Explore This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement, which features several photographs from the March on Washington.

The March, also known as The March to Washington, is a 1964 documentary film by James Blue about the 1963 civil rights March on Washington. It was made for the Motion Picture Service unit of the United States Information Agency for use outside the United States - the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act prevented USIA films from being shown domestically without a special act of Congress. In 1990 Congress authorized these films to be shown in the U.S. twelve years after their initial release. In 2008, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." (2005, 33 minutes. No MPAA rating.)

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. (2013, 1 hour 2 minutes. No MPAA rating.)

The Bus has been restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restoration funding provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.