The best-reviewed film from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was non-fiction: David Greaves’ “Once Upon a Time in Harlem.” A remarkable work, it brings the Harlem Renaissance to life through candid interviews, rare archival footage, and the voices of the artists, musicians, and writers who lived it.
After a heated bidding war to acquire the documentary, Neon has secured U.S. distribution rights and plans to release it in theaters later this year. At various points, Netflix, Sony Pictures Classics, and Mubi were also in the mix.
Shot in 1972 by William Greaves at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse, the film captures a gathering of Harlem Renaissance figures—musicians, writers, artists, and actors—as they reminisce, debate, and reflect on the movement they helped shape. Forgotten for decades, over four hours of footage were later curated by Greaves’ son into this 100-minute documentary.
The Harlem Renaissance was crucial, emerging just decades after the abolition of slavery and giving Black Americans a powerful platform to assert their cultural and intellectual identity. It was the cultural boom they needed to feel unshackled from the past.
On paper, this doc might sound dry, but it’s more than a history lesson; it offers intimate, salon-like conversations with some of the most notable figures of the movement—it’s a vibrant hangout movie. An utterly fascinating one at that.
This film feels like a piece of history suddenly unearthed for us all to witness. A rare treasure suddenly arriving, its very presence feels damn-near miraculous and could reshape the way we view the Harlem Renaissance — a time and place that seems to have been lost to memory, yet here it is, vivid and alive, demanding to be seen with a fresh set of eyes.
“Once Upon a Time in Harlem” currently holds a 94 on Metacritic and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s almost safe to say it will likely be Oscar-nominated next year for Best Documentary.
“AMERICA” becomes “AAMEREEDD” … Image credit: Primordial Soup / Time Studios 
The AI version of Benjamin Franklin in “On This Day… 1776”, with a distinct Anthony Hopkins-eske appearance. Image credit: Primordial Soup / Time Studios 
Thomas Paine as depicted in “On This Day… 1776”, AI generated using Google Veo 3. Image credit: Primordial Soup / Time Studios 
Best documentary has become the toughest Oscar category to predict in recent years, especially when it comes to nominations. The documentary branch has become famously quirky in recent years, passing over such populist, acclaimed, and decorated titles as Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, American Symphony, and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. Past performance is no guarantee of success—I’ve even heard rumors that some voters will refuse on principle to nominate a film by a previous Oscar winner—and geography is not destiny. Even as the best international feature category has skewed more European in recent years, the documentary branch has gotten […]