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March 07, 2006

Harlem Music Festival Footage Resurfaces; Doc In the Works

It has become an all-doc morning here on The Reeler, I know, but this is kind of fascinating: Reuters reports today that footage documenting the 1969 Harlem Music Festival--colloquially known as "the Black Woodstock"--has resurfaced at long last.

Featuring B.B. King, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone among others, the festival organizer could not sell the footage domestically as a concert film nearly 40 years ago. But filmmakers Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon plan to give it another shot:

(Neville and Gordon) are editing the reels of film capturing 1969's Harlem Music Festival into a feature-length film, with the goal of having it ready for the Sundance Film Festival next January.

The Harlem Music Festival ... drew huge crowds to the northern end of New York's Central Park for six days in the summer of 1969. Hosted by Jesse Jackson, the concerts were sponsored by Maxwell House Coffee. Security was provided by the Black Panthers, a job said to have been declined by New York Police Department.

(The documentary) has a working title of "Harlem '69." Along with performance footage, the filmmakers plan to provide some historical context by interviewing surviving participants. Discussions with distributors are underway.

Wow--efficient and ambitious. Assuming the negative is still in shape, I do not see how a film like this could miss. Perhaps that is why I am a blogger rather than a distributor, but still, hats off and best of luck to Neville and Gordon--this one is way overdue.

Posted by stvanairsdale at March 7, 2006 08:55 AM

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Posted by: Kevin at March 9, 2006 07:58 AM