Rediscovery

After its "one-time-only" showing it was occasionally seen on commercial television (unedited and with limited interruption) and for a short period released for home video on the Pacific Arts label and distributed to the educational market by Richard Kaplan Productions. Then for many years it was no longer available and rarely seen. Finally, in 2010 Richard Kaplan, who had long felt that King should be seen by a new generation who knew of it only by reputation, set up a not-for-profit company, A Filmed Record Inc., and produced a DVD using master elements he had stored over the years. A Filmed Record, Inc. released the DVD and King was once again available after 40 years of being a "lost" film.

In 2012 A Filmed Record, Inc. (with the cooperation of the estate of Ely Landau producer of the original film) entered into an agreement with Kino Lorber giving them worldwide exclusive rights to distribute King and to make possible its being seen by the largest possible audience. Kino Lorber, Inc., in partnership with The Library of Congress and with the cooperation of the Museum of Modern Art, restored and remastered the original enabling 35 mm prints and made the film available on DVD and Blu-ray. Kino Lorber and Kaplan prepared a nationwide commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington and King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which was screened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's BAMcinématek on August 13, 2013, followed by a screening at Film Forum on August 28, 2013. Kino Lorber is also launching an educational outreach campaign to provide a 24-minute abridged version of the film, titled Legacy of a Dream, to every high school in America.