Neon is releasing a trailer for its Oscar-contending documentary , a magical time capsule of a film that has been more than 50 years in the making.
The feature conceived and filmed by the late William Greaves and directed by his son, David Greaves, opens theatrically on October 16. It will screen this weekend at Telluride; we understand it is the only film this year to be programmed at Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, the New York Film Festival, and Telluride.
The documentary rewinds to 1972, capturing a remarkable gathering of surviving members of the Harlem Renaissance, the cultural and intellectual movement of African American artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers that flourished in the upper Manhattan neighborhood in the 1920s and ‘30s.
“A decade after his death, genre-defying filmmaker William Greaves has one last trick up his sleeve with what he considered the most important event he captured on film: a 1972 party he engineered with the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance,” notes a synopsis. “For four hours, this extraordinary group – many of whom had not seen each other in fifty years – reminisced, critiqued, argued, laughed and drank while wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.”
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The synopsis continues, “Shot on 16mm film, newly restored and now directed by Greaves’ son David, this landmark film is at once a self-exploration and an inquiry into the heart of the critical mass of energy called the Harlem Renaissance. William Greaves’ intent was not only to document these artists and intellectuals as they spoke about their lives and work but also to plumb the meaning of the extraordinary creative period in which they lived to help us better understand how culture has been passed on from one generation to another and the role that the artist plays in keeping it alive.”
Among the luminaries seen in the film are Regina Andrews, Eubie Blake, Romare Bearden, Arna Bontemps, Ernest Chrichlow, John Henrik Clarke, Ida Mae Cullen, Aaron Douglas, Thomas Harvey, Abram Hill, Frank Horne, Nathan Huggins, Jean Blackwell Hutson, Gerri Major, Richard B. Moore, Richard Bruce Nugent, Louise Patterson, Mrs. J.B. Matthews, William Patterson, Ruth Hill, Irvin C. Miller, Theodore ‘Ted’ Poston, George Schuyler, Noble Sissle, James Van Der Zee, and Leigh Whipper.
One Upon a Time in Harlem is produced by Liana Greaves and Anne de Mare; the film is edited by Lynn True and Anne de Mare. Music is by Tamar-kali. Watch the trailer above.
