Summer of Soul

Summer of Soul is a feature documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. 

This film marks Thompson’s feature directorial debut and focuses on the 1969 outdoor festival in Harlem’s Mount Morris Park. The festival featured dozens of  extraordinary  performances by artists including Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, B.B. King, the Staple Singers, the 5th Dimension, David Ruffin, Mahalia Jackson and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

The Harlem Cultural Festival took place the same summer as the famed Woodstock festival, and boasted an attendance on par with that concert 100 miles away.  Over 300,000 people attended, yet it received virtually no coverage from the mainstream media. The 40 hours of never-seen-before footage was originally shot by the late television pioneer Hal Tulchin, but has remained in storage for the past 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America’s history lost - until now. 


Stream it now on Hulu. 

Peabody Award
Arts

Grammy Award
Best Music Film

Academy Award
Best Documentary

BAFTA
Best Documentary 

Independent Spirit Awards
Best Documentary

Producers Guild of America Award (PGA) 
Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures

American Cinema Editors Eddie Award (ACE) 
Best Edited Documentary (Feature)

Critics Choice Docs Awards
Best Documentary Feature
Best Director
Best First Documentary Feature
Best Editing
Best Archival
Best Music Documentary

Los Angeles Film Critics Awards
Best Documentary/Non fiction
Best Editing

Sundance Film Festival Awards
Audience Award
Grand Jury Prize

Chicago Film Critics Society
Best Documentary

National Board Of Review
Best Documentary

Grierson Trust's British Documentary Awards
Best Cinema Documentary