Cynthia Grenier for The New York Times wrote, under the sub-headline "Justice Triumphs, ""Olive Trees of Justice" a fiction feature made in Algeria against a backdrop of the Algerian conflict, provoked a rare unanimity, from the farthest right to the farthest left in the press, both as to the quality and the courage of the undertaking.
Mr. Thompson wrote "The Olive Trees of Justice was photographed during the crucial days of 1962 in the heart of Algiers and in the vineyard countryside, with a cast of non-professionals under an American born director.
James Blue, who previously made short films here and in France, and has recently worked for the United States Information Agency.
Of course, I’m not trying to say I didn’t want emotion in this film—that would be completely contrary to my goals—but I wanted to bring about emotion by a synthesis of authenticity in the décor, in the actual setting, in the things that real people said, in the way real people looked, where they lived, in a juxtaposition of all that, a development of the old idea of ‘montage of attractions,’ along a certain theme.”[7] On October 11, 2014, Olive Trees was screened at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland Oregon.
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.
[18] On the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington 2013 BAMcinématek presented two weeks of films, August 13–28 under the title "Time for Burning: Cinema of the Civil Rights Movement."
[19][20] George Stevens Jr. met Blue at Cannes in 1962 and hired him to make films for the United States Information Agency.
As part of the presentation he showed USIA films, including School at Rincon Santo and Letter to Columbia.
[22] 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 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.
Shot by the USIA unit, headed by James Blue, it has a nice touch of poetry, compounded with the literalness of documentary."
James Blue is putting together an extensive documentary account of the August Freedom March on Washington, shot by several freely roving cameramen."
The Foundation said: "James Blue, Portland, Ore., will travel consult with other directors in the United States, Canada and abroad.
[29] In August 1969 he took part in the Creative Arts Conference sponsored by United States International University, San Diego, California.
The Conference was a twelve-day series of lectures by ten artists and writers including James Blue, Richard Brautigan, Don Carpenter, Stephen Schneck, Michael McClure, Robert Creeley, Ed Dorn, Mike Ahnemann, Denis Sanders, and Jim Morrison.
[31] In a 1976 article Blue wrote “Instead of training people for a more than doubtful Hollywood career, we can channel them towards this awakening of a community conscience.
There’s plenty of work for everyone.”[32] Filmmakers were brought in to the Media Center to conduct meetings and workshops periodically in order to engage and introduce students, faculty and community to direct cinema film making.
The Media Center received federal grants to purchase 8mm film and editing equipment with the intent for it to be made available to use by the public.
[39] Invisible City: Houston's Housing Crisis consisted of six one-hour episodes of an interactive public television series.
"[41] Blue made “Invisible City” with Adele Santos, an architect at Rice University, whose students had researched the film.
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 involved in the issue, either as manager or victim.” The documentary was shot on Super 8mm film that was transferred to video tape.
The others were Roger Englander (Chairman), Arthur Mayer, Dean Myhr Donn Pennebaker, Sheldon Renan, David Stewart.
Richard Blue and the Alliance have been raising funds for the restoration of Olive Trees of Justice to be re-released by Milestone Films.
[47] The Alliance chose the University of Oregon to house the James Blue's films, papers and ephemera, as a resource for students, historians, film-makers, and others.
[49] The Alliance funded the James Blue Award to be given out at the Ashland (Oregon) Independent Film Festival to "a filmmaker whose first or second documentary or narrative feature exemplifies the values of Oregonian director James Blue (1930-80), whose work addressed complex issues of social justice and social/political change."
The James Blue Award was given at the 2019 Ashland Independent Film Festival to Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink of The Rescue List.