Summer of Soul (… Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is a feature documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, drummer for The Roots and bandleader for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

This is a free outdoors screening in the Artopee Way Drive-In, otherwise known as the Nyack Municipal Parking Lot, in back of the Nyack Fresh Market. 2021, USA, 118 minutes, documentary, PG-13. THE RAIN DATE, if needed, is Saturday, July 29.

Winner of an Oscar for Best Documentary Film, Summer of Soul focuses on an outdoor festival in Harlem’s Mount Morris Park that took place the same year as the famed Woodstock festival and boasted an attendance on par with that concert 100 miles away. The film features 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, Gladys Knight and the Pips and many others. Over 300,000 people attended, yet it received virtually no coverage from the mainstream media. The 40 hours of never-seen-before footage has largely remained in storage for the past 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America’s history lost – until 2021.

Our sincere thanks to the Village of Nyack, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, Wright Bros. Real Estate, and Main Street Beat for helping make this screening possible!

Winner of the 2022 Academy Award for Documentary Film, a Grammy for Best Music Film, a Peabody Arts Award, a BAFTA Award for Best Documetary, an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, and was named Best Documentary of 2021 by the National Board of Review.

“Watching Summer of Soul, what you experience is nothing less than the sound of freedom.” – Variety

“Best Film of the Year” – The New York Times

“Summer of Soul is both a tribute to the artists and, just as importantly, their audience — which is what makes it not just a great concert film but a great documentary, period.” – Rolling Stone

“Some of the performances are breathtaking, and all of them are valuable, like the political and social context that surrounds them.” – Wall Street Journal