Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Director: Questlove Run Time: 117 min. Rating: PG-13 Release Year: 2021
Country: United States
Language: English
“A pulsating panorama of “Black, beautiful, proud”… a joyous and welcome addition to the documentary subgenre of rock festivals.”
– Tambay Obenson for IndieWire
About the film:
Summer of Soul premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary—part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion.
Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). The footage was never seen and largely forgotten—until now. Summer of Soul shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past and present. The feature includes never-before-seen concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Ray Baretto, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach and more.
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