Harlem Renaissance documentary finally gets global premiere 50 years after cameras rolled

"“It became clear to me that unless we black people began to produce information for screen and television there would always be a distortion of the black image,” he said."

"“Greaves invited every surviving participant he could locate. Many had not seen one another for decades. They included the painter Aaron Douglas; the queer artist and writer Richard Bruce Nugent; the poet Arna Bontemps; the musicians Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle; the photographer James Van Der Zee; and Ida Mae Cullen, the widow of Countee Cullen.”"

"“For four hours, Greaves filmed them as they laughed, reminisced and debated. The resulting film follows the rhythm of the party itself: tentative greetings and warm memories gradually giving way to animated debates over politics, language and legacy.”"

"“Once Upon a Time in Harlem is finally receiving its international premiere in Cannes' Directors' Fortnight completed not by William Greaves, who died in 2014, but by his son David and granddaughter Liani.”"

In 1969, William Greaves expressed anger at racially degrading stereotypes created by white film producers. He said Black people needed to produce screen and television information to avoid distortion of Black images. Three years later, he began work on a feature documentary meant to capture surviving figures of the Harlem Renaissance and reflect on the movement’s impact from decades earlier. The documentary, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, centers on a cocktail party Greaves hosted at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse in August 1972, aiming to record voices of artists, writers, musicians, and organizers whose stories were at risk of being sidelined. Greaves filmed surviving participants for four hours as they reminisced and debated politics, language, and legacy. The film is now premiering internationally in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, completed by his son David and granddaughter Liani.

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