Questlove Coming To The Castro Theatre For ‘Summer of Soul’

The summer’s smash hit streaming documentary concert film Summer of Soul was beloved by everyone who saw it — but only people who have Hulu saw it. We all get our chance to finally see the acclaimed concert documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, when director and drummer of the Roots Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson himself comes to the Castro Theatre on Saturday, November 6 for an in-person screening of Summer of Soul.

“For me, bringing Summer of Soul to the Castro Theatre with SFFILM for an incredible screening is a perfect way to celebrate this film and this year,” Questlove said in a release.

Summer of Soul documentary is so great…true singers and performers pic.twitter.com/t2jsaMwPa5

— KingSimba 👑 (@kingsimba88) October 15, 2021

The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival was known as “the Black Woodstock,” and 300,000 people showed up., but it got sero media coverage at the time. Summer of Soul showcases the festival’s performances by Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The 5th Dimension, the Staple Singers, and a whole bunch more, in footage that “sat in a basement for 50 years. It has never been seen,” as the film’s opening informs you. 

DOC STORIES PROGRAM IS HERE! Browse the beautiful lineup now! SFFILM Members can buy tickets starting today, general on sale starts tomorrow. #SFFILM #SFFILMDocStories

PROGRAM + TICKETShttps://t.co/XC4soAtjDg

— SFFILM (@SFFILM) October 14, 2021

Summer of Soul is part of the SFFILM’s annual Doc Stories festival, and they are doing in-person screenings again. The weekend-long documentary festival (November 4-7) is also screening the prison riot documentary Attica (Castro Theatre, Nov. 4), the Julia Child documentary Julia (Vogue Theatre, Nov. 5), the Dionne Warwick documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over (Catro, Nov. 7), plus a whole bunch of other documentaries screening at both the Castro and the Vogue.

Summer of Soul with Questlove speaking in person is Saturday, November 6, 8 p.m. at the Castro Theatre. Tickets are $16.