Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Special guests: Introduction by filmmaker Joseph Patel and producers David Dinerstein and Robert Fyvolent..

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Author, musician, DJ, and cultural icon Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson makes his directorial debut with this Oscar-winning documentary that revisits The Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969. Across six summer weeks, a staggering array of Black musical talent performed to packed audiences just a hundred miles south of Woodstock. However, its impact was eclipsed, in part because unlike Woodstock, footage of The Harlem Festival was largely unseen, until now. Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & The Family Stone, Gladys Knight & The Pips, B.B. King, and others tear the roof off as contemporary interviews and snapshots of the cultural moment around the festival round out this vibrant celebration of Black music and culture.

DIRECTED BY: Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. WITH: Dorinda Drake, Barbara Bland-Acosta, Darryl Lewis. Ethel Beatty. 2021. 118 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG-13. DCP.


Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. 

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