SummaryIn 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, a different music festival took place 100 miles away. More than 300,000 people attended the summer concert series known as the Harlem Cultural Festival. It was filmed, but after that summer, the footage sat in a basement for 50 years. It has never been seen. Until now. [Sundance]
Directed By:Questlove, Hal Tulchin
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
96
User score
Generally Favorable
7.7
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
100% Positive
38 Reviews
38 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jul 19, 2021
100
Director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s feature debut intertwines music and politics in one of the best concert movies of all time.
Jul 1, 2021
100
There are great concert movies and great socio-political documentaries, but Summer of Soul combines both in one gloriously entertaining and intellectually astute film.
User score
Generally Favorable
81% Positive
69 Ratings
69 Ratings
11% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
8% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Apr 28, 2022
10
Personally I don't like documentaries but Summer of Soul is a festival and a great and beautiful recognition of music.
Jun 28, 2021
100
Of course, you could just watch this for the performances and it would still be one of the best movies of the year. But why sell yourself short? Watch it for everything that it is, a kind of miraculously unearthed treasure trove of music and politics and culture and soul. So much soul.
Jan 30, 2021
100
The lack of awareness of this event is another tragic example of black history being ignored. Only this time the record survived, and now we all get to share in it.
Jul 2, 2021
90
Thompson really lets the music play in order to appreciate the artists, augmenting that by interviewing people who attended the festival, reacquainting them with a time of cultural awakening during their youth.
Jun 30, 2021
88
Thank the cinematic and music gods it was never destroyed or lost, as Summer of Soul is an absolute found treasure of golden onstage moments, interspersed with interviews from participants such as Gladys Knight as well as attendees and cultural commentators, along with celebrity artists such as Chris Rock and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Jul 8, 2021
70
As a filmmaker, Questlove utilizes his celebrity connections more than he does original directorial vision, trading instead in long-established, standard documentary structure and form. Summer of Soul is polished, but it pales in stark comparison to the raw footage and energy of the Harlem Cultural Festival.
Jul 2, 2021
10
Easily one of the best music documentaries of all time. It's better than "WattStax," which came out in 1973. And it's more culturally relevant than "Woodstock." It's about a moment in time when America was coming to the realization that change was inevitable.
Nov 27, 2022
5
I agree with Faxthtax. I found all the talking heads parts very distracting and overdone. The music should have been front and center with commentary either downplayed or provided on a commentary track that could be toggled on and off. This can easily be resolved by doing a disk rerelease with a second of the music only, as Faxthtax suggested. Given what we have, I can only give this a 5 score.
Jul 17, 2021
5
If this gets a DVD release, it should be 2-Disc version. Disc 1 for this documentary.
And crucially a Disc 2 for the whole concert. Missing more from Simone´s blasting performance like her dynamite version of "I Got Life"
I was disappointed that much of the festival was left out. Instead it was stuffed with anti-racist material..
So please.. Full festival please..
Mar 14, 2023
0
this is almost a drama and i do not recommended, i think i will see something differe t in the next weeks
Production Company:
- Mass Distraction Media
- RadicalMedia
- Vulcan Productions
- Concordia Studio
- Play/Action Pictures
- LarryBilly Productions
Release Date:Jul 2, 2021
Duration:1 h 57 m
Rating:PG-13
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards
• 6 Wins & 6 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
