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, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension and more.
In an interview with Deadline, Thompson stated ‘If I saw something remotely interesting that gave me goosebumps, like, “Whoa, what was that?” I took a note. When I had about 30 of those, then I felt like I could come to the table with, “Let’s make a movie.”‘ Paul Hsu, the project’s recording mixer, says in The Hollywood Reporter, that ‘Thompson is an “incredible” music historian and the right helmer for the film. “The importance of each one of the musicians in those acts is so crystal clear and understood by [Thompson],” says Hsu. “There are so few people who could have made this film in the way that he did. In a way, my job feels really somehow to just carry that forward, to just help that blossom and make you feel as though you really are there.”’
Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised), is the first official project under the recently announced Onyx Collective brand. The winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival was released theatrically by Searchlight Pictures and recently began streaming internationally.
‘Summer of Soul’: Rescuing a historic Harlem music festival: