Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Director: Questlove Run Time: 117 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 2021

Starring: B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, The 5th Di- mension

It should come as no surprise that one of today’s most engaging renaissance men, Ahmir Questlove Thompson, has made one of the decade’s best concert films. SUMMER OF SOUL is, simultaneously, a jump-out-of-your-seat exciting music film with performances by some of the biggest luminaries of late ‘60s African American music and an incredible document of the Harlem Cultural Festival, a should-have-been-world-famous event which was instead largely forgotten until this remarkable footage was unearthed in a basement fifty years later.

“Summer of Soul is both a tribute to the artists and, just as importantly, their audience — which is what makes it not just a great concert film but a great documentary, period.” – Rolling Stone

Please Note: All in-person screenings at the Brattle now require proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test (within 72-hours). See the Covid Response page for complete details.