In an interview, the musician and first-time director talks about his Oscar-nominated documentary and how the events around the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival parallel today.
Musician Ahmir Thompson immersed himself in 40 hours of footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival a.k.a. 'Black Woodstock' to curate the Oscar-nominated 'Summer of Soul' documentary.
PUTNEY—In the summer of 1969, 300,000 people gathered to hear the country’s most iconic stars at a free music festival.And I don’t mean Woodstock, in a field in upstate New York.I’m talking about the Harlem Cultural Festival, which organized six concerts in Mount Morris Park in Harlem. The lineup ran .