(1964) Documentary Short. The March is a 1964 documentary film about the 1963 civil rights March on Washington. A quarter of a million people took part in the March on Washington. A television audience of millions watched Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech. James Blue captured it on film. The March was shot in 35mm black and white film by a crew of 14 sound and camera men in 7 pairs, most of them from Hearst News. Blue was brought onto the project after the camera crews were hired. George Stevens Jr, the head of USIA films, said "I asked Jim Blue to become involved. No one at Hearst could craft the kind of film we wanted." Over three days they shot 59,795 feet of film - more than 11 hours of material. It was edited by Blue down to 3,021 feet, for a running time of 33 minutes. The budget was $50,000. In addition to directing and editing, it was narrated by Blue, including released prints in Spanish and French. The March was made for the Motion Picture Service unit of the United States Information Agency, a government entity that made informational, some would say propaganda, films. At the time, by law, USIA films were only seen outside of the United States. In 1990 the law was changed to allow USIA films to be shown domestically 12 years after they had been made.

(1962) Drama - A man returns to his native Algeria to visit his dying father there, at a time when the French colonial hold on that country is coming to its end. Les oliviers de la justice was based on "Les oliviers de la justice", a novel by Jean Pelegri. It was filmed in Algeria under war conditions during the Algerian War with a French production company. The musical score was composed by Maurice Jarre. At Cannes, it was shown out of competition in a sideline section of the festival dedicated to the work of promising young directors, the inaugural Semaine de la Critique and was given the Prix de la Société des Écrivains de Cinéma et Télévision au Festival de Cannes 1962.

(1978) Arguably, James Blue's most ambitious project, this "complex documentary" (in Blue's words) was originally made in five one-hour episodes as an interactive public television series. The sixth episode, which summarized the series, will be screened today. Blue and renowned architect Adele Santos take us on a tour of 1970s Houston, a divided city, growing in the midst of an oil boom. Skyscrapers going up, unemployment going down. One thousand new residents were arriving per week. But the filmmakers see two cities. Visible Houston is populated by well-educated citizens earning high wages with no state or income taxes. Invisible Houston, for whom the most basic city services did not exist, was inhabited by poorly educated citizens earning low wages. Thanks to the boom, both had jobs, but a hardworking resident of the invisible Houston could be living in a car or a tin shed. "The complex documentary began with a concern for and a commitment to changing a particular situation in an urban culture in which Blue himself lived. It was not to take a side but to explore all the facts in their complexity, and to research the problem in books and interviews and consultations with as many citizens from every strata [sic] involved in the issue, either as manager or victim."

—Dr. Gerald O'Grady, professor, film historian, and James Blue archivist

(1976) TV Mini Series Documentary. In 1974 Blue created, with David MacDougall, the film Kenya Boran. It had four parts: Boran Herdsmen, Boran Women, Harambee: Pull Together, Kenya Boran. It was commissioned by American Universities Field Staff, and was funded by the National Science Foundation. It was shot over two months in Kenya. Margaret Mead called Kenya Boran the best ethnographic film she had ever seen.

(1974) Boran Herdsmen demonstrates the time-honored solutions to the problems associated with the Boran's dependence on cattle for living. Direct government intervention and the indirect impact of modernization are forcing the old patterns to change. The film depicts herding practices, movement patterns, watering strategies, and the lifestyle of the herdsmen. The film has special currency for issues in rural development and agricultural, environmental, and human adaption. Courses that emphasize Third World problems, cross-cultural techniques of adaptation, the role of the environment in questions of human survival, and the role of government in rural development will find the film useful.

(1974) Traditionally confined to the roles of life-givers, nurturers and homemakers, Boran women of Kenya are slowly realizing the importance of education and the difference it can make in their lives. They attach great importance to the traditional role of women in a herding society and perform dawn to dusk tasks with little deviation from customary ways. Remarkable though is the obvious independence they demonstrate in performing tasks which normally would fall under the male domain, like building their own houses. The film is principally observational with occasional segments in which the women speak directly to the camera.

(1968) Made for the United States Information Agency (USIA). Shot all over the globe. The situation is staggering. The Earth is producing people at a faster rate than food to feed them. Scientific methods are needed to grow more food, but in most developing nations, farmers still use ancient techniques. The film-maker takes us over three continents in search of images which illustrate the problem.

In series of scenes, peasants in Asia, Africa, and Latin America confront us with the harsh realities of their lives. We learn why it ‘makes sense’ not to grow more food.

For too long, the traditional farmer has been thought of as irrational and unambitious. Here, he emerges a man with shrewd judgment, capable of surprising change. He is no longer content with his grass shack and bullock. He wants more out of life. If he can live better on the farm he will grow more food. If he cannot live better he may abandon the farm and go to the city making a bad situation even worse.

The unambitious peasant is a thing of the past. The problem facing those nations today which must increase their food supply is that they are dealing with a dissatisfied modern man. Documentary

(1974) Harambee is a traditional Swahili chant meaning heave-ho or pull together the slogan for a united Kenya. Harambee Day or Independence Day is celebrated in this small town in North Kenya with political speeches and an auction at the native school. The film shows how North Kenya- isolated for years- tries to adapt to the new concept of nationhood. Government officials from South Kenya are appointed as ambassadors to spread the idea of national unity to a people unaccustomed to it.

(1960) "A burial, a cemetery made entirely of stones taken from the eroded lands encompassing the village where people lived and died." (James Blue). As usual, he sublimates this state-commissioned documentary on agronomy, bringing his aesthetic and poetic touch. It encompasses the theme of the film, in what touches it from more universal and existential angles; the carelessness of childhood, mourning, social condition... The meaning of life. This first short film in Algeria produced by Les Studios Africa by Georges Derocles, is the first of a series, preludes to his flagship feature film "Les Olives de la Justice".

—Algeria Cinémag

(1957) Images of the French capital, filmed at dawn, in the style and spirit of the Nouvelle Vague. Short Documentary.

(1978) The title of this 1978 film—co-produced by Ed Hugetz, James Blue and Brian Huberman-- does two things at once: it prepares one for a celluloid elegy, and simultaneously sets the pulse racing with its unmistakable theatrics. "Whoever did it, we'll hunt him down," thinks a spectator fed on whodunits, and then shamefacedly checks her inner armchair vigilante as she recognizes the call to mourn the demise of a historic neighborhood in Houston. The subsidiary title ("A Non-Fiction Mystery in Three Parts") continues this duality, this complex interplay between history and histrionics. However, even the sobering signpost of "non-fiction" does not offer any certain, rock-solid answer to question posed in the film. As James Blue-- in a brief appearance early in the film—suggests, the film, at best, is a journey towards an understanding of the "forces" that control the destiny of a city and its people. This leads us to another question central to this cinematic narrative: "Can people without economic power have a say in the decisions which affect their lives?"

(1962) Prior to making The March, James Blue had made three short films for the USIA. They were A Letter from Colombia (1962), The School at Rincon Santo (1962) and Evil Wind Out (1962). Collectively they are called the “Colombian Trilogy” on the Alliance for Progress. In August, 1963, George Stevens Jr., having returned from the Moscow Film Festival, gave a lecture to the Washington Film Council at the State Department Building in Washington. As part of the presentation he showed USIA films, including School at Rincon Santo and Letter to Columbia. In October 1963 Bosley Crowther in The New York Times wrote an article arguing that the USIA films should be legally shown in the States. He claimed that "The content of so many of these films is informative and inspiring, too, that to keep them from American audiences is to miss a natural chance to extend their use." he had recently seen a private screening of the films put on by George Stevens Jr. He wrote "A lovely little item, "The School at Rincon Santo" shows how the people of a Columbian village high in the mountains got together and built their first schoolhouse. It is meant to illustrate the spirit of the Alliance of Progress - People helping themselves. Shot by the USIA unit, headed by James Blue, it has a nice touch of poetry, compounded with the literalness of documentary."

(1962) A Letter from Columbia is part of the Columbian Trilogy. Between 1962 and 1968, Blue directed Five documentary films for the film division (director: George Stevens, Jr.) of the United States Information Agency (USIA). Blue directed the “Colombian Trilogy” on the Alliance for Progress – the three short films A Letter from Colombia (1962), The School at Rincon Santo (1962) and Evil Wind Out (1962). Written, directed, and narrated by James Blue, with cinematography by Stevan Larner. The film was produced by the United States Information Agency (USIA) for audiences outside of the United States. "A Letter from Colombia" is part of the James Blue papers, Coll 458, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Or. This film was a gift of the Blue family.

(1962) The School at Rincon Santo is part of the Columbian Trilogy. "The School at Rincon Santo" shows how the people of a Columbian village high in the mountains got together and built their first schoolhouse. It is meant to illustrate the spirit of the Alliance of Progress - People helping themselves. Shot by the USIA unit, headed by James Blue, it has a nice touch of poetry, compounded with the literalness of documentary." -Bosley Crowther, The New York Times. Written, directed, and narrated by James Blue, with cinematography by Stevan Larner. The film was produced by the United States Information Agency (USIA) for audiences outside of the United States. "The School at Rincon Santo" is part of the James Blue papers, Coll 458, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Or. This film was a gift of the Blue family.

(1962) Evil Wind Out is part of the Columbia Trilogy. Between 1962 and 1968, Blue directed Five documentary films for the film division (director: George Stevens, Jr.) of the United States Information Agency (USIA). Blue directed the “Colombian Trilogy” on the Alliance for Progress – the three short films A Letter from Colombia (1962), The School at Rincon Santo (1962) and Evil Wind Out (1962). Written, directed, and narrated by James Blue, with cinematography by Stevan Larner. The film was produced by the United States Information Agency (USIA) for audiences outside of the United States. "Evil Wind Out" is part of the James Blue papers, Coll 458, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Or. This film was a gift of the Blue family.