Celebrate MLK Day

No registration or fee.

Brief discussion following the showing.

Produced for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation by Ely Landau (The American Film Theater collection), King is an epic document of the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., from the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott to his assassination in 1968. Rare footage of King”s speeches, protests, and arrests are interspersed with scenes of other high-profile supporters and opponents of the cause, punctuated by heartfelt testimonials by some of Hollywood”s biggest stars.

Both a historiography of the non-violent civil rights movement and a portrait of the movement”s inspiring leader, King comprises original footage captured during those turbulent years. “The events are allowed to speak for themselves,” wrote The New York Times”s Ellen Holly. “The roar of police motorcycles, bombs, burning crosses, ambulances, gospel, shouts, the massed crowds before the Lincoln Memorial at the 1963 March on Washington, and, most thrilling of all, the speeches of the man himself.” Without any voice-over narration, King uses contemporary film/newsreel and video/television footage to brilliantly convey the boiling indignation of an oppressed people and their revolutionary organizing.

King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis premiered as a special “one-time-only event” on March 24, 1970 in over 600 theaters throughout the United States. The film, three hours in length, was billed as “An Evening in Tribute to Martin Luther King.”

Newly restored by the Library of Congress, in association with Richard Kaplan, and utilizing film elements provided by The Museum of Modern Art, the original version of King can again be seen in its entirety, mastered in HD from the 35mm preservation negative.

Admitted to the National Film Registry in 1999, King is a cinematic national treasure that allows viewers to be first-hand witnesses to Dr. King”s crusade, and thereby gain a fuller appreciation of both the personal challenges he endured and the vast cultural legacy he left behind.

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