Once Upon a Time in Harlem

I 1972 inviterte filmskaperen William Greaves mer enn tjue kunstnere, forfattere, musikere og intellektuelle fra Harlem-renessansen til en sammenkomst i Duke Ellingtons byhus. Mange hadde ikke sett hverandre på femti år. Over drinker mimrer de, er uenige, ler og diskuterer hva bevegelsen var – og hva den hadde blitt.

Blant dem er maleren Aaron Douglas, poeten Arna Bontemps, fotografen James Van Der Zee, komponisten Eubie Blake, kunstneren Richard Bruce Nugent og historikeren John Henrik Clarke. Greaves’ bevegelige kameraer tar oss med inn i rommet, der historien ikke vokser frem som en fastlagt sannhet, men gjennom motstridende minner, glemte fortellinger og gleden ved å tenke sammen.

Greaves betraktet prosjektet som det viktigste i karrieren, men døde i 2014 før han rakk å fullføre det. Med utgangspunkt i nærmere 18 000 meter restaurert filmmateriale har sønnen David formet opptakene til et nært og sprudlende kollektivt portrett.

More than fifty years in the making, William and David Greaves’ remarkable film turns a historic gathering in 1972 of artists and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance reunite into living, breathing cinema.

In 1972, filmmaker William Greaves invited more than two dozen artists, writers, musicians and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance to a gathering at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. Many had not seen one another for fifty years. Over drinks, they reminisce, disagree, laugh and debate what the movement was—and what it had become.

Among them are painter Aaron Douglas, poet Arna Bontemps, photographer James Van Der Zee, composer Eubie Blake, artist Richard Bruce Nugent and historian John Henrik Clarke. Greaves’ roaming cameras bring us into the room, where history emerges not as a settled account, but through competing memories, forgotten stories and the pleasure of thinking together.

Greaves considered the project the most important of his career, but died in 2014 before completing it. Drawing on nearly 60,000 feet of restored footage, his son David has shaped the material into an intimate and exuberant collective portrait.