Questlove

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Edition 2021

Sound and Vision

118' - 2021 - Documentary, Music/Musical - Dialogue: English

Director: Questlove With: Roy Ayers, Ethel Beatty, Barbara Bland-Acosta

Docs

A powerful and transporting documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival in the summer of 1969.

The screening on 23 October in Vooruit is followed by the Film Fest Ghent Closing Party. Entrance to the film and Closing Party via a Covid Safe Ticket.

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 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 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.

“This is black music at the end of a turbulent decade filled with rights gained and leaders lost. It’s Motown, the blues, R&B, Afro-Latino jams ... Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson’s look back at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is damn near a music-doc masterpiece.” - Rolling Stone