ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM
In the summer of 1972, pioneering filmmaker William Greaves gathered an extraordinary group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries at Duke Ellington’s townhouse for an unforgettable evening of conversation, debate, laughter, and reflection. Many had not seen one another in decades. With cameras rolling, artists and intellectuals including Romare Bearden, James Van Der Zee, Eubie Blake, Arna Bontemps, and Aaron Douglas wrestled with their legacies and the role of art in a rapidly changing America.
More than 50 years later, Greaves’ son David, himself one of the cameramen that evening, resurrects this remarkable gathering through newly restored 16mm footage his father considered among the most important he ever filmed. Both cultural time capsule and meditation on artistic creation, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM brings the architects of a transformative cultural movement vividly back to life. A final testament to William and Louise Greaves’ extraordinary legacy, the film World premiered at Sundance before making its International Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
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