Summer of Soul

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Summer of Soul
(...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
File:Summer of Soul 2021.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson
Produced by
  • David Dinerstein
  • Robert Fyvolent
  • Joseph Patel
Cinematography Shawn Peters
Edited by Joshua L. Pearson
Distributed by
Release dates
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  • January 28, 2021 (2021-01-28) (Sundance)
  • June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25) (United States)
Running time
 117 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $3.7 million[1][2]

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is a 2021 American documentary film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in his directorial debut.[3] It had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2021, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the documentary categories. It had a limited theatrical release in the U.S. by Searchlight Pictures on June 25, 2021, before expanding and being released for streaming on Hulu the next weekend.

The film received acclaim from critics, with particular praise given to the restoration of the footage used. It won numerous awards, including Best Documentary Feature at the 6th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards, where it won in all six categories in which it was nominated; Best Documentary at the 75th British Academy Film Awards; Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards;[4][5] and Best Music Film at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

Synopsis

The film examines the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which took place on six Sundays between June 29 and August 24 at Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) in Harlem, using professional footage of the festival that was filmed as it happened, stock news footage, and modern-day interviews with attendees, musicians, and other commentators to provide historical background and social context. Despite its large attendance and performers such as Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, The Staple Singers, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mavis Staples, Blinky Williams, Sly and the Family Stone, and The Chambers Brothers, the festival is much less well-known in the 21st century than is Woodstock (which took place on the same weekend as one of the days of the Harlem Cultural Festival), and the filmmakers investigate this, among other topics.

Production

File:HarlemFestivalTapeHeader1969.jpg
Clapperboard from original videotape recordings of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival

At the request of festival organizer and host Tony Lawrence, television producer Hal Tulchin recorded about 40 hours of footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival on videotape,[6] excerpts from which were packaged as two one-hour TV specials that were broadcast in 1969, one on CBS in July, and one on ABC in September.[7] The tapes were then placed in a basement,[8] where they sat for the next 50 years.[9] Tulchin attempted to interest broadcasters in the recordings for several years, but had little success, though some of the footage of Nina Simone was eventually used in documentaries about her.[10]

In 2004, Joe Lauro, a film archivist at the Historic Films Archive, discovered the existence of the footage and contacted Hal Tulchin, hoping to work on a film about the festival. He digitized and cataloged the footage[11] and, in 2006, entered into a deal with Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville to make the film,[6] but the project never saw the light of day, as Tulchin discontinued his agreement with Lauro.[11] Producer Robert Fyvolent, who had originally sought to work with Lauro, then acquired film and television rights to the footage from Tulchin.[12][13] Fyvolent began collaborating with producer David Dinerstein in 2016, and together they engaged RadicalMedia and editor Josh Pearson, and added a third producer, Joseph Patel.[14]

Director Ahmir Thompson has expressed surprise that the footage sat for so long, and that he had never heard of the festival before the producers approached him about making the film.[15] Discussing its obscurity, he said: "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."[16]

Release

The film premiered on January 28, 2021, at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the US Documentary Competition.[17] It was acquired by Searchlight Pictures and Hulu, and was released in the United States at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles and the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 multiplex in New York City on June 25, 2021, before expanding nationwide and being released for streaming on Hulu the next weekend.[18] The film was set to be distributed internationally in theaters and on Disney+ Hotstar on July 30, 2021, and on Disney+ and Star+ on November 19, 2021,[19][20] and was made available on the U.S. version of Disney+ on February 8, 2022, in time for Black History Month.[21] It made its broadcast television premiere on ABC on February 20, 2022.[22] On February 8, 2022, 20th Century Studios released a hard copy on Standard Definition DVD. In a bonus feature interview, Thompson mused about expanding the film with the wealth of material he had to cut for time.

On April 22, 2021, it was announced that Thompson would introduce the first trailer for the film during the 93rd Academy Awards, for which he served as music director. The trailer debuted on April 25, 2021.[23]

Reception

Box office

Summer of Soul grossed $2.3 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $1.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $3.7 million.[1]

In the film's first weekend in wide release, it grossed $650,000 from 752 theaters (for a per-venue average of $865).[24]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 99% (based on 206 reviews), with an average rating of 9.1/10; the website's critics consensus reads: "Deftly interweaving incredible live footage with a series of revealing interviews, Summer of Soul captures the spirit and context of a watershed moment while tying it firmly to the present."[25] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 96 out of 100 (based on 38 critics), indicating "universal acclaim".[26] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" average grade.[24]

Rolling Stone praised the film as "the Perfect Movie to Kick Off Sundance 2021" and said it was "an incredible, vital act of restoration—and reclamation".[27] The Guardian gave it five stars, writing that there is "a moment so striking and rich with power at the center of Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson's Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) that, while watching it, I actually forgot to breathe."[28]

British critic Mark Kermode called the film "the best music documentary I've ever seen" in his review for Kermode and Mayo's Film Review on BBC Radio 5 Live.[29]

Awards and nominations

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Sundance Film Festival February 3, 2021 Grand Jury Prize – Documentary Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [9]
Audience Awards – Documentary Won
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards November 14, 2021 Best Documentary Feature Won [30]
Best Archival Documentary Won
Best Music Documentary Won
Best First Documentary Feature Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson Won
Best Director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (tied with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin for The Rescue) Won
Best Editing Joshua L. Pearson Won
Gotham Independent Film Awards November 29, 2021 Best Documentary Feature Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Nominated [31]
National Board of Review December 3, 2021 Documentary Film Won [32]
Detroit Film Critics Society December 6, 2021 Best Documentary Won (Tied with "Flee") [33]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards December 6, 2021 Best Documentary Won [34]
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards December 12, 2021 Best Documentary Won [35][36]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards December 15, 2021 Best Documentary Won [37]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards December 18, 2021 Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film Won [38]
Best Editing Joshua L. Pearson Won
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association December 20, 2021 Best Documentary Film Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [39]
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards December 21, 2021 Best Documentary Film Won [40]
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards January 2022 Best Documentary Won [41]
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle January 10, 2022 Best Documentary Feature Won [42]
San Diego Film Critics Society January 10, 2021 Best Documentary Won [43]
Best Editing Joshua L. Pearson Nominated
Austin Film Critics Association January 11, 2022 Best Documentary Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [44]
Toronto Film Critics Association January 16, 2022 Best Documentary Film Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [45]
Seattle Film Critics Society January 17, 2022 Best Documentary Feature Won [46]
Houston Film Critics Society Awards January 19, 2022 Best Documentary Feature Won [47]
Online Film Critics Society Awards January 24, 2022 Best Documentary Won [48]
London Film Critics Circle Awards February 6, 2022 Documentary of the Year Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [49]
Black Reel Awards February 27, 2022 Outstanding Documentary Feature Won [50]
Outstanding Emerging Director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson Nominated
Cinema Eye Honors March 1, 2022 Outstanding Non-Fiction Feature Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, and David Dinerstein Nominated [51]
Outstanding Direction Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson Nominated
Outstanding Debut Nominated
Audience Choice Prize Nominated
Outstanding Editing Joshua L. Pearson Won
Outstanding Sound Design Jimmy Douglass and Paul Hsu Nominated
American Cinema Editors Awards March 5, 2022 Best Edited Documentary – Feature Joshua L. Pearson Won [52]
Cinema Audio Society Awards March 6, 2022 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Documentary Paul Hsu, Roberto Fernandez, Paul Massey Won [53]
Independent Spirit Awards March 6, 2022 Best Documentary Feature Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [54]
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards March 7, 2022 Best Documentary Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Nominated [55]
Directors Guild of America Awards March 12, 2022 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson Nominated [56]
Golden Reel Awards March 13, 2022 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Documentary Joshua L. Pearson, Jimmy Douglass Nominated [57]
British Academy Film Awards March 13, 2022 Best Documentary Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, and David Dinerstein Won [58]
Best Editing Joshua L. Pearson Nominated
Dorian Awards March 17, 2022 Best Documentary Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Nominated [59]
Satellite Awards April 2, 2022 Best Documentary Film Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [60]
Producers Guild of America Awards March 19, 2022 Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures Joseph Patel, David Dinerstein, and Robert Fyvolent Won [61]
Academy Awards March 27, 2022 Best Documentary Feature Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein Won [62]
Grammy Awards April 3, 2022 Best Music Film Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (video director); David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent and Joseph Patel, (video producers) Won [63]
Peabody Awards June 6–9, 2022 Arts Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Won [64]

Soundtrack

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Main article: Summer of Soul (soundtrack)

On January 21, 2022, Legacy Records released an official soundtrack album.[65] In an interview, Thompson said he considered including songs not in the film, but decided to stick with the music that had already been cleared for release.[66] The digital version of the soundtrack contains 17 songs, while the physical version contains 16, as it does not feature Abbey Lincoln's and Max Roach's performance of "Africa".

Home media

On February 8, 2022, the film was released on Standard Definition DVD by 20th Century Studios and High Definition digital streaming by Disney +. Bonus features include audio commentary by Thompson, who muses about reediting a longer version that would include footage he had to cut for time, and two behind-the-scenes featurettes ("Soul Searching" and "Harlem: Then & Now").[67]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  4. ↑ 2022|Oscars.org
  5. ↑ 'Summer of Soul' Wins Best Documentary Feature|94th Oscars
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Richard Sandomir, "Hal Tulchin, Who Documented a ‘Black Woodstock,’ Dies at 90", New York Times, September 14, 2017 Archived January 4, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 January 2022
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Hal Tulchin, Who Documented a "Black Woodstock", Dies at 90 - The New York Times
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  14. ↑ AARP
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  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Peabody Awards
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further reading

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

See also

External links

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Template:Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Film Template:Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Documentary Film

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