Kino Presents Soul on Sunday #2: Summer of Soul at Nia Centre
Tom Grieve, Contributing WriterBook now
Kino presents Soul on Sunday #2 plus "Summer of Soul".
Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.
Questlove’s Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) stands out as one of the most vital and infectiously entertaining documentaries to be released over the last few years. The 2021 film pieces together the story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival from news reel, contemporary interviews and, crucially, professionally captured footage of the festival and its performers who took to the Mount Morris Park stage across the six Sundays between 29 June and 24 August.
Much less celebrated than Woodstock — which happened the same summer — the performers included Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Sly and the Family Stone. In this directorial debut, musician, producer, journalist and now filmmaker Ahmir K. Thompson a.k.a. Questlove examines why the Harlem Cultural Festival has less of a historical footprint, questions the erasure of Black history, and unleashes the documentary’s ace: a trove of phenomenal, joyous concert footage that has been sitting untouched in a basement for fifty years.
Manchester’s Kino present the film on Sunday 21 September at Hulme’s Nia Centre (NIAMOS) as part of their Soul on Sunday series. The film is scheduled for 3pm and will be followed by six hours of Northern Soul DJs who will continue the spirit of Summer of Soul with tunes spinning until 10pm.
