Come celebrate our reopening
Friday, August 20 – Sunday, August 22
7:30 pm
SPECIAL ONE NIGHT ONLY EVENT FRIDAY, 8/20 POST-SCREENING DANCE PARTY
Featuring DJ Drew
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
7:30 pm | $10/$6 members | PG-13 | Documentary | 1h 57m
Directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson the documentary examines the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which was held at Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) in Harlem and lasted for six weeks. Despite having a large attendance and performers such as Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, The Staple Singers, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Sly and the Family Stone, the festival was seen as obscure in pop culture, something that the documentarians investigate.
Forty hours of footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival was recorded on videotape and later placed in a basement, where it sat for about 50 years unpublished. Producer Robert Fyvolent became aware of the footage, and eventually acquired film and television rights to the footage from its original producer, Hal Tulchin. Thompson expressed surprise that the footage sat for so long, as music had a large impact on his life and development, stating “What would have happened if this was allowed a seat at the table? How much of a difference would that have made in my life? That was the moment that extinguished any doubt I had that I could do this.”
“A KNOCKOUT OF A MOVIE” – Leonard Maltin