Connect with us
Summer of Soul
Image: Sundance Film Festival

Film

Summer of Soul is an Exquisite Resurrection of an Unsung Festival of Black Music

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is a feature documentary about the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African American music and culture, and promoted Black pride and unity.

Sundance 2021: Summer of Love

Summer of Soul, the directorial debut of longtime Roots drummer and all-around musical celebrity Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, is many great things, all at once. It’s a first-rate concert film, it’s an impressive excavation of never-before-seen footage, and it’s woven together with a heaping of the political context. 

Billed as “A Questlove Jawn,” in a nod to the director’s Philadelphia heritage, Summer of Soul kicked off the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on the evening of January 29. 

Presented under the official title Summer of Soul: The Revolution That Could Not Be Televised, the film chronicles The Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts that were held at a park in Harlem on a series of weekends in the summer of 1969. The event featured a who’s-who of important Black musical artists from various genres, from Mavis Staples to Nina Simone to Stevie Wonder to Sly and the Family Stone to B.B. King. 

The festival took place the same summer as Woodstock, which was the subject of a popular documentary, and instantly became a household part of boomer popular culture. The Harlem Cultural Festival, though, never did. It was filmed extensively, but no one ever acquired the footage, which ended up sitting on a shelf for the ensuing 50 years, while the festival itself became something of a cultural footnote. 

Some producers discovered the footage a little over a decade ago and hired Questlove to direct. Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, is listed as an executive producer, showing that Lucie has been making much better decisions of late when it comes to his entertainment industry ventures than he has for his football team. 

Summer of Soul does a lot of great things at once. It presents the great musical footage itself. It shows us some of the participants watching the footage and reflecting on it, most notably Billy Davis, Jr., and Marilyn McCoo of The 5th Dimension. There’s also much discussion of how the performances fit in with the historical context. The Festival was just over a year after the assassination of Martin Luther King, and we see the Rev. Jesse Jackson on stage remembering his late friend. The film also goes a bit into the story of how the 45 hours footage never emerged. 

There are some truly standout musical highlights, from Nina Simone singing “Young, Talented and Black,” to a very young Stevie Wonder playing multiple instruments, to the Fifth Dimension duo telling the well-worn but great story about how he had left his wallet in a New York City taxi cab, only to have it found by a producer of the musical “Hair,” leading to the historic musical collaboration on “The Age of Aquarius,” which brought the Black and white countercultures together. 

And at the end, we see some of the performers and attendees moved to tears as if finally seeing the footage has reassured them that those concerts in the summer of 1969 weren’t just their imagination. 

Summer of Soul shows that Questlove has seemingly limitless potential as a film director and that there’s almost certainly a lot of other concert footage sitting on shelves somewhere that hasn’t been seen in 50 or so years. 

The first-ever “virtual” Sundance Film Festival runs from January 28 – February 3. Check back for our daily coverage and visit the festival’s official website for more information.

Watch Summer of Love

Now Streaming

Written By

Brian Marks is Sordid Cinema's Lead Film Critic. His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, LA Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, and Ampersand. He's a graduate of USC's master's program in Specialized Arts Journalism. You can find more of his writing at InPraiseofCinema.com. Best film experience: driving halfway across the the country for a screening of Jean-Luc Godard's "King Lear." Totally worth it.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Facebook

Trending

Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake? Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake?

Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake?

Celebrity

Jackson Taylor's Death Jackson Taylor's Death

Cause Of Jackson Taylor’s Death: The Shocking Details of His Fatal Accident!

Celebrity

Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64? Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64?

Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64?

Celebrity

Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023? Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023?

Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023?

Celebrity

Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis's First Husband? Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis's First Husband?

Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis’s First Husband?

Celebrity

Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet? Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet?

Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet?

Celebrity

Who Is Lola Consuelos's Boyfriend Who Is Lola Consuelos's Boyfriend

Who Is Lola Consuelos’s Boyfriend: About Her Dating History

Celebrity

Travis Kelce’s Wife and The Surprising Rise to Fame of Travis Kelce

Celebrity

Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check

Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check

Celebrity

Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple

Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple

Celebrity

Candace Parker Net Worth: Unraveling the Basketball Star’s Path to Wealth, Legacy

Celebrity

Caliphate Season 2 Release Date Caliphate Season 2 Release Date

Breaking: Caliphate Season 2 Release Date, Cast, Spoilers, Trailer, Plot, and Every Newest Update!

TV

Melissa Rivers’ Engagement

Celebrity

Robert Pattinson and Suki Waterhouse’s Relationship Timeline

Celebrity

Is Ruth Connell Dating Someone in 2023? All About Ruth Connell Love Life 

Celebrity

Jerry West's Wife: Unraveling the Untold Chapters of a Basketball Icon's Love Life Jerry West's Wife: Unraveling the Untold Chapters of a Basketball Icon's Love Life

Jerry West’s Wife: Unraveling the Untold Chapters of a Basketball Icon’s Love Life

Celebrity

Connect