'Summer Of Soul' Trailer: Questlove's Black Woodstock Doc Frees A Great Musical Treasure From The Vaults

Here’s what you need to know, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is the drummer of the seminal hip-hop group, The Roots, also the band leader of the Jimmy Fallon show. Thompson is a musicologist, a renowned DJ, has a P.H.D. Prince, and has his own music podcast. It makes sense that Thompson would venture into making music documentaries. His directorial debut is, “Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised),” about what’s been dubbed the Black Woodstock, an epic Harlem Musical Festival in 1969, that featured many black legends of soul, funk, and rock that had been forgotten. The entire concert had been shot too, but the footage languished in a basement for decades. Enter Thompson’s uncanny ability for finding gems in LP crate digging, and his knack for telling a great story.

“Summer Of Soul” screened at Sundance this year, was universally praised and won the top documentary prize at the festival too.

Here’s the official synopsis:

In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary—part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). The footage was never seen and largely forgotten–until now. “Summer Of Soul” shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past, and present.

“Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised),” is the first official project under the recently announced Onyx Collective brand. The winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival will be released theatrically by Searchlight Pictures and will begin streaming on Hulu in the U.S. on July 2, 2021. The film will also stream internationally through the Star offering on Disney+ on a date to be confirmed.

The feature includes never-before-seen concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension, and more. “Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised),” is in theater and on Hulu, July 2. Watch the new trailer below.