The TV programme Soul! (1968-1973) was described in US TV guides as a ‘Negro entertainment talk show’. Intended to be the black version of The Tonight Show, it became much more than that: a pioneering programme that showed and encouraged all aspects of Afro-American culture – music, poetry, dance and activism.
With plenty of wonderful archive material, the film tells the story of the programme that started in 1968 on a local station in New York and was then picked up by a national network. It presented a mixture of big names (such as Stevie Wonder and Al Green), unknown talent and avant-garde musicians (such as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, playing three instruments at once) − plus poets and dancers who could not be seen anywhere else on the TV.
Scopitone Café, free admission
Film details
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2018
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2019
- Length
- 115"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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