Summer of Soul
I've been on a bit of a Questlove exploration lately, listening to a lot of podcasts and interviews where he is featured. I really like the guy (and his musical sense) and when I found out he'd made a musical documentary I had to get hold of it. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is one of the most genuine and powerful musical documentary I've seen. It centers on a festival that happened in Harlem in 1969, that was filmed in its entirety (several weekends over the summer) and then promptly forgotten. Questlove was shown the footage and decided to do a movie about it. Not only are the musical performances by Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone and many, many others stellar, but the movie highlights the event's social impact, the pride in black culture, and the shifting of the tide in attitudes to desegregation amongst the black community. We are shown the footage, but also interviews in real time of people who attended the concerts, whether they are artists or spectators. The movie really moved me in so many ways, I can only recommend that you see it ASAP.
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