In early February, the leader of The Roots had just presented his thrilling first film, “Summer of Soul (O, when the revolution may not be televised),” at the Sundance Virtual Film Festival. -the forgotten Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, won the festival’s two most important documentary awards: the Audience Award and the American Grand Jury Prize. But when the announcement was made, Questlove was worried about heading to Midtown Manhattan, where he leads the inner band on Tonight’s Show starring Jimmy Fallon. “
“By the time I got 30 Rock, there was 10 inches of sleet on the ground, hail, there’s wind,” recalls the musician (real name: Ahmir Thompson). “Tabitha Jackson, who runs the festival, calls and says, ‘You’ve won Sundance!’And I thought, “Oh, is it like a contest? Great, thank you. “
“Actually, my only fear was, ‘Shit, I used Fangs during the snowstorm. I want dry socks right now. ‘”
With 97% positive reviews on the global online site Rotten Tomatoes, “Summer of Soul” (in theaters and airing on Hulu Friday) recalls the Harlem Cultural Festival, which was held over six weekends in 1969, the same summer as Woodstock. the event, dubbed “Black Woodstock,” was largely lost in history, despite the combined participation of another 300,000 people, most commonly black citizens of Harlem, and a lineup of black artists including Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, BB King and Sly. and the family stone.
A few years ago, when manufacturers David Dinerstein and Robert Fyvolent unearthed lost photographs of the festival filmed in the past, Hal Tulchin, who tried to sell them to television networks 50 years ago in vain.
“I think we can all guess why,” said manufacturer Joseph Patel. “There’s an explanation of why Woodstock is so well known and this festival isn’t, and that says a lot about this country. Hopefully this film will be a step to help rectify. “than. “
Question: What was your reaction when David and Robert told you that this series existed?
Questlove: I was surprised. I kept asking, “How are Sly and Stevie!”These two names alone deserve to roll out the red carpet. Are you looking to tell me for 50 years, it was just sleeping in someone’s basement?Suddenly, I worried: I was driving for the first time. this 18-wheeler all over the country?I have just been given my license. I doubted I could just tell this story and was convinced, “Dude, you wrote books. You teach classes. You have a podcast. You know how to tell a story. “It took me about 3 months to settle for this challenge, and once I got started, there was no turning back.
Q: How did the procedure for the joint meeting go?
Questlove: I had to live with 40 hours of photography for five months in a constant loop in my house. I never turned off the TV once. I went home, the TV still works. Go to bed, the TV is still working. In every room in my house, monitors everywhere. Even on my phone, while traveling, I just absorbed this for five months. When I had 30 moments where I felt like those “wow” moments were happening to me, that’s the foundation on which I built the film. The first draft 3 hours and 25 minutes , so we had a smart year getting rid of the 90 minutes, which is one of the hardest things in history.
Q: You chose not to highlight Stevie Wonder’s successes, but to show him as a 19-year-old at a crossroads.
Questlove: It’s so funny that you mention this, because my aunt and my mom looked at me and said, ‘I Was Made to Love Her’ and ‘My Cherie Amour’ and all those other songs, why did you decide this?” I chose him for his full set, aside from the drum solo, it’s the ultimate and compelling moment when you saw him enter a non-Motown professional domain. You see those seeds of the Stevie Wonder come to life in the long run.
Q: How did you feel when you saw Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples doing a song “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” for the first time?Because, like many critics, I was devasive.
Questlove: Right? So here’s the thing: when we did the first montage, this Mahalia/Mavis moment is my end. (The makers said), “It’s great, it’s the best finish for Hollywood. “And I like, “Oh, man, it’s like you’re saying, ‘That’s interesting. ‘”So instantly, I do what I do with root albums: I follow what’s mandatory and start over. I learned that to challenge myself, we would have to do This summit assembly is not our end, but I put it as the highlight, because now I’m going to be forced to place an even more powerful shot that has to fit in at that moment.
Luckily for us, in Nina Simone, we had someone who Array hammered the space in his own way. Nina Simone was more of an exclamation point than a period. It would have been a Hollywood kumbaya ending if it had ended that way with Mavis and Mahalia, but as a highlight, it hits you even harder.
Q: In the end, this film tells the story of how culture and the black hitale are erased. Beyond just enjoying all those performances, what do you expect the audience to be informed or remember?
Questlove: I knew that other people my parents’ and grandparents’ age were going to gravitate because they had lived through that period; cats my age had gotten data from their parents and hip-hop also helped.
As we began to move toward the end of 2019 and the peak of the pandemic, I realized, “Oh, we just opened the doors for Generation Z and Generation Y. “Because even if they’re not connected to those artists in a way that they’re hooked on Drake or Megan Thee Stallion, they’re going to see (parallels between the ’60s and now). We’re done repeating history, and that happens when you throw it away or throw it away. So I think the apparent Thing is, what we’re going through right now is what happened 50 years ago, and how can we prevent that?That’s what I really need other people to get out of this.
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