In honor of Black History Month, the Oxford Film Festival — in cooperation with the University of Mississippi Division of Diversity and Community Engagement Department — presented a special screening and discussion of “King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis” on Thursday at the Powerhouse Community Arts Center.
The documentary follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement from 1955 until King’s assassination in 1968.
“‘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,” the Oxford Film Festival said.
The documentary serves as a cultural epic, a long-form knockout running three-hours in length, including an intermission, that offers emotional objectivity and clarity to iconic and infamous historical events, while truly highlighting the highs and lows in the ongoing fight for racial equality.
The film is also composed almost entirely from archival footage — not unlike a Ken Burns documentary — with interstitial appearances by celebrities and artists of the period, offering testimonies and serving as the connective tissue between the heartstopping events on display.
Produced by Ely Landau and directed by Academy Award-winners Sidney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz, both of whom went uncredited at the time, “King: A Filmed Record…” was originally presented as a one-night-only special event on March 20, 1970. Although the film was added to the Library of Congress’s prestigious National Film Registry in 1999, it remained little-seen and never properly distributed onto physical media until 2010.
The version projected Thursday appeared as stunning as ever: a new HD master restoration from the original 35mm film negative, utilizing film elements provided by The Museum of Modern Art.
Every piece of footage remains evocative in its own right, both of-the-time and, unfortunately, timeless, with split-second images that become burned into your psyche. However, seeing the events strung together — from the Montgomery bus boycotts to the Selma marches — while often tough to stomach, creates such a stirring, undeniably powerful effect. Yet, glimmers of levity and hope are deliberately sprinkled throughout, one moment including footage of Mike Nichols and Elaine May performing a comedy routine for a group of peaceful protestors.
While often associated with the state of Alabama, the civil rights movement traversed the entire country, particularly the southeast, with the citation of Mississippi during King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech serving as the, coincidental, centerpiece of the film:
“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
“King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis” is currently available to stream.
