8:06 PM PST 4/02/2021
by
Mia Galuppo
The document contains 40 hours of never-before-seen archival footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which has come to be known as the Black Woodstock.
Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures and Hulu have acquired music document, Summer of Soul (… or, when the revolution couldn’t be televised), a directorial debut for The Roots founder Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
The deal was negotiated by Cinetic for worldwide rights. The film is set for theatrical release, as well as streaming on Hulu in the US and internationally on Star and Star +.
Sources close to the deal say the sale is the largest for a doc in the history of the Sundance festival, beating last year’s record break Boys State, which went to Apple for $ 12 million. (In front of Boys State, the biggest documentary sales at Sundance were in 2019 Knock the house down, which sold for $ 10 million.)
Summer of the soulwhich premiered in the US doc competition portion of the fest, centers on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival (aka Black Woodstock) with performances from the likes of Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder, and 40 hours of archival footage.
“I am so honored that after all this time I can make my dreams come true,” said Questlove. “This is truly an honor. ‘Summer Of Soul’ is a passion project and it is incredibly rewarding to have it resonate with so many people on so many levels.”
The acquisition was through Disney General Entertainment’s BIPOC Creator Initiative, led by Tara Duncan, who offered, “It’s rare to find a movie that captures the breadth of the Black American experience and makes you dance, too, testify and sing out loud. “
David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent and Joseph Patel produced the document with RadicalMedia as creative and production partners. Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio, who was also involved with Boys State, executive produced.
Producers Dinerstein and Fyvolent said: “It is overwhelming to see audiences rediscover this lost piece of history and fall in love with our film. People are struggling to restore their lives in a pandemic, so we think this film will bring joy together. with a necessary re-examination of important social issues. “
The doc won a lot at the festival awards ceremony on Tuesday evening, taking both the audience award and the grand jury award in the US doc competition section.