Hello, Readers! Summer of Soul, the documentary feature debut of music maestro Questlove, was one of the biggest sensations to emerge from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is a 2021 American documentary film on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the drummer for hip-hop band The Roots for nearly three decades, makes his solo debut in 1969, offering a unique perspective on the year.
A different music event took place 100 miles away during the same summer as Woodstock. The Harlem Cultural Festival, a summer concert series, drew more than 300,000 people. It was videotaped, but the footage stayed in a cellar for 50 years after that summer.
In the festival’s Documentary area, this upbeat account of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, dubbed “the Black Woodstock,” earned both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. Searchlight Pictures swiftly snapped it up, and the picture will be released in theatres and on Hulu at the same time.
Summer of Soul: Release Date
It made its global premiere on January 28, 2021, at the Sundance Film Festival. It is set to be distributed in the United States on July 2, 2021, by Searchlight Pictures in theatres and digitally via Hulu.
Summer of Soul: Official Date
Plot
The documentary looks at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which lasted six weeks and was hosted at Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) in Harlem. Despite a massive turnout and performances like Stevie Wonder, the 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Sly and the Family Stone, the festival was perceived as obscure in pop culture, which the documentarians investigate.
Who’s in it?
B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples, Hugh Masekela, Mongo Santamaria, Nina Simone, and Sly & the Family Stone are among the numerous artists who appear in the film.