Once Upon a Time in Harlem

Once Upon a Time in Harlem is a documentary built around footage William Greaves shot in August 1972 at a four-hour party he engineered at Duke Ellington's townhouse in Harlem. Greaves conceived the gathering as part cocktail party, part memorial, and part symposium, bringing together the last surviving creators, artists, poets, and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance — many of whom had not been in the same room for decades. Using three 16mm cameras, he captured roughly 60,000 feet of film (approximately 28 hours of footage). Notable attendees included pianist and composer Eubie Blake, his longtime collaborator Noble Sissle, legendary photographer James Van Der Zee, painter Aaron Douglas, writer and poet Richard Bruce Nugent, poet Arna Bontemps, publisher Richard B. Moore, 96-year-old actor Leigh Whipper (the first Black member of Actors' Equity), Ida Mae Cullen (widow of poet Countee Cullen), muralist Romare Bearden, historian John Henrik Clarke, and others. Throughout the evening the guests laughed, drank, debated their cultural legacies, and reflected candidly on the Harlem Renaissance's meaning and their own place within it — often prompted by questions Greaves directed at them. Greaves considered the footage the most important event he ever put on film, but he never completed the project during his lifetime; he died in 2014 with the documentary unfinished. His widow Louise Greaves continued working on it until her own death in 2023. His son David Greaves and granddaughter Liani Greaves ultimately completed the editing and restoration, and the finished film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival before receiving a theatrical release on October 16, 2026 via Neon, with a runtime of 100 minutes.

Sources: Wikipedia, IMDb, Deadline, The Playlist, POV Magazine, Screen Daily, The Art Newspaper