8:06 pm PST 2/4/2021
in
Mia Galuppo
The document features 40 hours of archival footage never before seen at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which became known as Black Woodstock.
Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures and Hulu acquired musical documents, Summer of Soul (… Or, when the revolution could not be televised), a debut in the direction of The Roots founder Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
The deal was negotiated by Cinetic for worldwide rights. The film is scheduled for release in theaters, as well as streaming on Hulu in the U.S. and internationally on Star and Star +.
Sources close to the deal say the sale is the biggest for a doctor in the history of the Sundance festival, breaking last year’s record Boys State, which went to Apple for $ 12 million. (Before Boys State, the biggest documentary sale at Sundance was in 2019 Take down the house, which sold for $ 10 million.)
Summer of the Soul, which debuted in the competition’s US docs section of the festival, focuses on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival (also known as Black Woodstock), which saw performances by Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder, among others, and features 40 hours of archival footage.
“I am very honored to be able to manifest my dreams after all this time,” said Questlove. “This is truly an honor. ‘Summer Of Soul’ is a passionate project and having resonated with so many people on so many levels was incredibly rewarding.”
The acquisition was made through Disney General Entertainment’s BIPOC Creator initiative, led by Tara Duncan, who offered: “It is rare to find a film that captures the breadth of the Black American experience and also makes you want to dance, witness and sing out loud . “
David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent and Joseph Patel produced the document with RadicalMedia acting as creative and production partners. Concordia Studio by Davis Guggenheim, who was also involved in Boys State, executive production.
Producers Dinerstein and Fyvolent said: “It is amazing to see audiences rediscovering this lost piece of history and falling in love with our film. As people struggle to restore their lives in the midst of a pandemic, we feel that this film will bring joy, along with a necessary review of important social issues. “
The doc won a grand prize at the festival’s awards ceremony on Tuesday night, taking the audience award and grand jury award in the US doc competition section.