Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Questlove
Produced by
David Dinerstein
Robert Fyvolent
Joseph Patel
Cinematography
Shawn Peters
Edited by
Joshua L. Pearson
Production companies
Onyx Collective
Concordia Studio
Play/Action Pictures
LarryBilly Productions
Mass Distraction Media
RadicalMedia
Vulcan Productions
Distributed by
Searchlight Pictures
Hulu
Release dates
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 independent[3][4] documentary film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in his directorial debut.[5][6] 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 second half of the movie's title is taken from the 1970 poem and song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", written by the late Gil Scott-Heron. It offered a sharp and satirical critique of the media's lack of coverage of civil rights activism and the reality of change and revolution taking place in the streets and on campuses across America. Both the song and phrase became an anthem of political change during the 1960s.[citation needed]
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,[7][8] and Best Music Film at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. It has been considered one of the best films of the 2020s and of the 21st century.[9][10]
^"Summer of Soul (2021)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
^"Summer of Soul (2021)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
^Indie Film Series: Summer of Soul - Sun Journal Events
^Indie Prof: "The Rescue" and "Summer of Soul"|Front Porch
^MUBI
^Greene, Bryan (June 2017). "This Green and Pleasant Land". Poverty and Race Research Action Council. Archived from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
^"The 94th Academy Awards (2022)". oscars.org. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
^'Summer of Soul' Wins Best Documentary Feature|94th Oscars
^"Hollywood Reporter Critics Pick the 50 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far)". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 April 2023.
^Kermode, Mark (18 July 2021). "Summer of Soul review – the best concert film ever made?". The Observer.
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