Summer of Soul (2021)
“Do you remember the Harlem Cultural Festival?” For most Americans, the answer to the question posed by Questlove at the start documentary would probably be no.
Sharply edited by Joshua L. Pearson, Summer of Soul is more than just a concert film about “Black Woodstock.”
It’s a tribute to American music culture, a testament to the power of archives and a relic of a bifurcated nation, marked by the tensions of the Civil Rights and anti-war movements.
Questlove uses the almost forgotten footage shot by Hal Tulchin in 1969, expertly weaving the recordings of an impressive lineup–Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, B.B. King, Mavis Staples, Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone–into a story about a country on the brink of change.
The film vibrates with ecstatic energy and historical urgency.
