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

Between its revelatory archive footage and incisive commentaries, this documentary is more than just a joyous concert movie. In the summer of Woodstock, 1969, an audience of 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival over six Sundays. Despite capturing a sizzling line-up of black talent and a "total party atmosphere", the footage lay buried for 50 years, until director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson - of hip-hop veterans the Roots - brought it to light. The result plays as a snapshot of black expression at a pivotal moment, accompanied by acutely judged historical and modern contextual material. While Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Mahalia Jackson, Mavis Staples, a commanding Nina Simone and others give variably exhilarating and heart-rending performances, surviving artists and other commentators articulate the occasion's significance for then and now. Both a far-reaching celebration of black music and a rousing act of remembrance, the film brings the period to life with great rigour and fervour.