A documentary capturing the voices of Harlem Renaissance survivors, filmed in 1972, has finally received its international premiere at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight, more than 50 years after cameras rolled. The film, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, was completed by the family of pioneering documentarian William Greaves after his death in 2014.
Greaves had hosted a cocktail party at Duke Ellington's townhouse in Harlem in August 1972, inviting every surviving participant of the movement he could locate. The guests included painter Aaron Douglas, writer Richard Bruce Nugent, poet Arna Bontemps, musicians Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, photographer James Van Der Zee, and Ida Mae Cullen, widow of poet Countee Cullen. Over four hours, Greaves filmed them as they reminisced and debated politics, language and legacy.
David Greaves, William's son, who worked as a cameraman on the shoot at age 22, said his father thought the participants were extraordinary. 'Mostly my father just let them freestyle, it was very fluid,' he told the Guardian. The film captures discussions on whether to use 'Negro' or 'Afro-American', reflections on Marcus Garvey and Langston Hughes, and the global impact of anti-colonial struggle.
David Greaves noted the conversations remain relevant today, drawing parallels between Haile Selassie's 1936 appeal to the League of Nations and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent appeals for support. He also highlighted footage accompanying the anti-lynching poem The Lynching, showing a young white girl watching with 'fiendish glee', underscoring how recent America's racial violence remains.
The film's premiere comes amid renewed debates over Black history in the US. Asked about Donald Trump's attacks on the Smithsonian over race-focused programming, David Greaves said: 'They've been doing everything they can to erase the Black experience.'
