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

Real footage in 1 hour and 57 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated PG-13 for Smoking, Brief Drug Material and Some Disturbing Images!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $2,300,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty amazing that these household names are nobodies here.

Brilliant presentation. The footage, the artists, the songs! More of this please!!!

Harlem Woodstock...practically uncovered by the media at the time,except for this film....great music,big names,educational,entertaining

It is a documentary that lets the sun shine through

Summer of Soul es una carta de amor al sentirnos orgulloso de dónde venimos y que, sin importar nuestro color de piel, nuestra religión o nuestra identidad podemos logra lo que queramos. El cómo la música fue fundamental para el cambio de paradigma en la cultura latente a finales de los 60's es único. La película lo presenta con música increíble de todos los géneros predominantes de esa época, es vibrante y con un poderoso mensaje de buscar salir adelante y tener las mismas oportunidades en un país que parece arrebatárselas cada vez que tiene la oportunidad. El cómo la música puede ser un conductor que ataque problemas sociales y no quedándose únicamente en un status superficial, que sí, también es importante, pero lo que estos artistas lograron expresar a través de la música fue golpe autoritario hacia la búsqueda de un cambio. Creando una identidad postmoderna que explotó a inicios de los 70's, a base de referentes musicales, la expresión creativa y sus consecuencias, incitando a la libertad de expresión y a formar un criterio que vaya más allá de lo preestablecido.

I watched it twice. Back to back. I suppose that's saying something.

Brilliant, historical, and enlightening.

Gospel, jazz or blues are not my go to musical genres. I really could have lived my life perfectly fine as it is without ever knowing of the Harlem Cultural Festival as a white person. But am I glad to have seen it. The fact there was footage and then it sat for almost 50 years in a basement, forgotten and abandoned by everyone because the networks did not believe in it is truly astonishing. And not only does Questlove bring to light this never seen before footage (due to age, some footage is somewhat corrupted, but it's mostly pristine, surprisingly), but he also perfectly balances showing MOST OF THE FOOTAGE WITHOUT JUST IMMEDIATELY EDITING TO PEOPLE TALKING with the perspectives of producers, directors, managers, the artists who had performed, people who had attended, with excellent editing and use of the montage, especially when depicting stuff like riots or what have you at the beginning of the film prior to the title. Overall, a very educational and enlightening documentary with very great editing and interesting stories that will open your eyes to the Black Woodstock. (I really liked the part where they mentioned how one of the days where the festival took place just so happened to coincide with the landing on the Moon, and how a lot of Black folks back then had other worries to think about other than the fact we had managed to get on the moon. Yet, only one was still talked about widely before this docu came out, and it's easy to guess which of them).

It's incredible how music, culture and societal issues were weaved together to tell the story of a forgotten festival in the heart of Harlem. Very educational, albeit not relatable for a young viewer like myself. (78%)