Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

...capturing the multiplicity of Black identity with the unrelenting joy of one special summer. Just waiting to be discovered.

There is so much beauty in this film, in detail in the outfits of the attendees, the composition of the interviews and in the tightly constructed contextualising montages.

The clips are chosen carefully, not just for the familiarity of the performers but also as context for the backstory Thompson wants to tell.

...somehow both as fresh as yesterday and as far away as the moon.

...Questlove’s film is more than just archival footage.

...an important slice of cultural history, an expression of Black joy, and probably the best concert you’ll never go to.