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IMDbPro

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

  • 20212021
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 58m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
12K
YOUR RATING
Mavis Staples in Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
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 never seen and 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 never-before-seen 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.
Play trailer1:59
12 Videos
38 Photos
DocumentaryMusic
Documentary about the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African-American music and culture and promoted Black pride and unity.Documentary about the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African-American music and culture and promoted Black pride and unity.Documentary about the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated African-American music and culture and promoted Black pride and unity.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
12K
YOUR RATING
    • Questlove
  • Stars
    • Dorinda Drake
    • Barbara Bland-Acosta
    • Darryl Lewis
    • Questlove
  • Stars
    • Dorinda Drake
    • Barbara Bland-Acosta
    • Darryl Lewis
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 93User reviews
    • 124Critic reviews
    • 96Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar

    Videos12

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:59
    Watch Official Trailer
    Official Teaser Trailer
    Trailer 1:02
    Watch Official Teaser Trailer
    Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Trailer 2:02
    Watch Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    6 Sundance Award-Winning Movies to Stream Now
    Clip 2:14
    Watch 6 Sundance Award-Winning Movies to Stream Now
    The Most Anticipated Movies and Shows to Stream in July 2021
    Clip 3:41
    Watch The Most Anticipated Movies and Shows to Stream in July 2021
    Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Clip 1:56
    Watch Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Clip 1:11
    Watch Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Musa Jackson & The 5th Dimension
    Clip 1:55
    Watch Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Musa Jackson & The 5th Dimension
    Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Gladys Knight & The Pips
    Clip 1:10
    Watch Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Gladys Knight & The Pips
    Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Featurette 2:57
    Watch Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Harlem: Then & Now (Featurette)
    Featurette 2:52
    Watch Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Harlem: Then & Now (Featurette)
    Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Soul Searching (Featurette)
    Featurette 2:57
    Watch Summer Of Soul: Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised: Soul Searching (Featurette)

    Photos38

    The 5th Dimension in Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
    Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples in Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
    B.B. King in Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
     Gladys Knight: May 28
    Questlove at an event for The Oscars (2022)
    Questlove at an event for The Oscars (2022)
    Questlove, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel, and David Dinerstein at an event for The Oscars (2022)
    Questlove, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel, and David Dinerstein at an event for The Oscars (2022)
    Questlove, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel, and David Dinerstein at an event for The Oscars (2022)
    Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein at an event for Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
    Josh Pearson, Questlove, and Robert Fyvolent at an event for Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
    Questlove (/name/nm0859821) at The IMDb Portrait Studio at the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards

    Top cast

    Edit
    Dorinda Drake
    Dorinda Drake
    • Self - Festival Attendee
    Barbara Bland-Acosta
    Barbara Bland-Acosta
    • Self - Festival Attendee
    Darryl Lewis
    Darryl Lewis
    • Self - Festival Attendee
    Ethel Beatty
    Ethel Beatty
    • Self - Festival Attendee
    • (as Ethel Beatty-Barnes)
    Al Sharpton
    Al Sharpton
    • Self - Minister & Activist
    • (as Reverend Al Sharpton)
    Allen Zerkin
    Allen Zerkin
    • Self - Former Assistant to Tony Lawrence
    Margot Edman
    Margot Edman
    • Self - Festival Production Assistant
    Alan Leeds
    Alan Leeds
    • Self - Music Manager & Executive
    Cyril 'Bullwhip' Innis Jr.
    Cyril 'Bullwhip' Innis Jr.
    • Self - Black Panther Party
    Hal Tulchin
    Hal Tulchin
    • Self - Director & Producer, Harlem Cultural Festival 1969
    Musa Jackson
    Musa Jackson
    • Self - Festival Attendee
    Billy Davis Jr.
    Billy Davis Jr.
    • Self - The 5th Dimension
    Marilyn McCoo
    Marilyn McCoo
    • Self - The 5th Dimension
    Adrienne Kryor
    Adrienne Kryor
    • Self - The Edwin Hawkins Singers
    Greg Tate
    Greg Tate
    • Self - Writer & Musician
    Charlayne Hunter-Gault
    Charlayne Hunter-Gault
    • Self - Former Reporter, The New York Times
    Jesse Jackson
    Jesse Jackson
    • Self - Minister & Activist
    • (as Reverend Jesse Jackson)
    Gladys Knight
    Gladys Knight
    • Self - Musician
      • Questlove
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The Harlem Cultural Festival comprised six concerts that took place between June 29 and August 24, 1969, in Marcus Garvey Park (at the time, Mount Morris Park), and attracted a combined in-person audience of 300,000.
    • Goofs
      The subtitle, "When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised," is incorrect. In 1969, the year the Harlem Cultural Festival concerts took place, two TV specials about them were shown: July 28, 1969 on CBS (while the concerts were still taking place) and September 16, 1969 on ABC.
    • Quotes

      Sly Stone: Don't wait for approval from your neighbor, because your neighbor might be waiting for you.

    • Crazy credits
      There is a scene after the end credits featuring Stevie Wonder and his band leader bantering back and forth on stage.
    • Connections
      Featured in CBS News Sunday Morning: Episode #43.26 (2021)
    • Soundtracks
      Drum Solo
      Written by Stevie Wonder

      Performed by Stevie Wonder

      Published by Jobete Music Co. Inc. on behalf of itself and Black Bull Music

      Licensed courtesy of Wonder Productions, Inc.

      Steve Wonder appears courtesy of Wonder Productions, Inc.

    User reviews93

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Still Not Televisable In This Form
    1968 was a tough year for New York City, what with the garbage strike and the Harlem Riots (which killed more people than the riot about whether it was acceptable to wear a straw boater after September 15, and almost as many as the one about who was the best Shakespearean actor in town). In 1969, New York's best looking (and possibly worst performing, unless you count the one who went around in his wife's clothes) mayor agreed that a music festival in Harlem was preferable, so the City (and Maxwell House) bankrolled a series of four weekend concerts in Harlem. They even filmed it.

    Never heard of it? Neither had I. Woodstock sucked all the air out of such goings on that summer. People know about Woodstock, Monterrey, and Altamont because of the sex and successful movies being made of them. The film for this one sat in a vault for fifty years because no one wanted to edit and release it. Were the rights secured? I don't know. How would you market it, with Nina Simone reading poetry about destroying the White Man's property? So it sat unedited and unreleased, while the people who had been there as adults died, and those who had been there as children grew uncertain about whether it had ever happened.

    Except that now it has been edited and released, and it is an amazing collection of music, Black history, Black Pride, B. B. King telling us why he sang the blues, Mahalia Jackso singing.... well, who cares what she's singing? Plus Sly and the Family Stone, The Fifth Dimension (I didn't even know they were Black), Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight..... well the list goes on and on.

    It goes on a little too long to be absolutely cinematic. It starts off with some amazing energy, and the first hour or so keeps it up in a whirlwind of editing by Joshua Pearson. Then.... well, there follows eight or ten segments that look like The Final Act, to be followed by a coda of commentary, only to be followed by another final act..... which dissipates the energy. Every act is great, and I don't know what I would cut. However, but the end I was exhausted.

    Still. Great music. Great commentary. And if they want to televise it, they need to cut out Miss Simone's poetry slam.
    helpful•32
    22
    • boblipton
    • Jul 3, 2021

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 2, 2021 (United States)
      • United States
      • Official site
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Mount Morris Park, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Mass Distraction Media
      • RadicalMedia
      • Vulcan Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 58 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital
      • Stereo

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