‘Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)’: Questlove’s New “Black Woodstock” Doc Is Superb [Sundance Review]
“Black Woodstock doc,” reads the director’s clapperboard, the first image we see in the feature debut of drummer, DJ, music producer, journalist, podcaster, and wing enthusiast Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s superb documentary “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).” It’s part joke, part expression of cultural context: Playing the dual role of curator and archaeologist, Thompson presents his audience with footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival, a concert series staged in Mount Morris Park over the summer of 1969 “100 miles away from Woodstock,” as the title cards tell us.