Mr. Soul!

Mr. Soul! is a 2018 American documentary film produced, written and directed by documentary filmmaker Melissa Haizlip. The film was co-produced by Doug Blush and co-directed by Sam Pollard. The film tells the story of Ellis Haizlip, the producer and host of SOUL!, the music-and-talk program that aired on public television from 1968 to 1973 and aimed at a Black audience. It was released in 2018 and has since received 19 filmmaking awards.

Mr. Soul!
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMelissa Haizlip
Produced byMelissa Haizlip
Written byMelissa Haizlip
StarringHarry Belafonte
Felipe Luciano
Dr, Harold Haizlip
Nikki Giovanni
Ashford & Simpson Ronald Bell
Questlove
Novella Nelson
Stan Lathan
Carmen De Lavallade
Dr. Loretta Long
Black Ivory
Kathleen Cleaver Sonia Sanchez
The Last Poets
Greg Tate
Kevin Powell
Christopher Lukas
Chester Higgins Jr.
Alvin Francis Poussaint
Louis J. Massiah
Narrated byBlair Underwood
Music byRobert Glasper
CinematographyHans Charles
Edited byGiovanni P. Autran
Annukka Lilja
Blair McClendon
Production
company
Shoes In The Bed Productions, LLC
Distributed byShoes In The Bed Productions, LLC
Open Your Eyes & Think MF
Release date
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

The film explores the five seasons of SOUL! against the backdrop of a swiftly changing political landscape. The film interweaves archival footage with rare performances and interviews from the SOUL! show, contemporary interviews with guests who appeared on SOUL! a Black women-led crew working behind-the-scenes[1] including Harry Belafonte, Nikki Giovanni, The Last Poets, Ashford & Simpson, Black Ivory, Sonia Sanchez, Carmen De Lavallade, Felipe Luciano, and Ronald Bell of Kool & the Gang. SOUL! gave exposure to popular stars like Stevie Wonder, Wilson Pickett, Al Green and Earth, Wind & Fire and underground artists, including McCoy Tyner and the saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and authors like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, and activists including Kathleen Cleaver of the Black Panther Party and Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture).[2]

The words of Ellis Haizlip are taken from interviews, news articles, correspondence and journal entries between 1968 and 1973. Ellis Haizlip's words are voiced by the actor Blair Underwood, who also serves as an executive producer on the film.[3]

“The primary purpose of Soul! is neither to educate nor entertain, but to give people a chance to share in the Black experience. The show must do that first. Then it can educate and entertain. Soul! makes Blacks visible in a society where they have been largely invisible.” Ellis Haizlip 1968.[3]

Release

On April 22, 2018, Mr. SOUL! premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. The film was screened at 50 film festivals in 2018 and 2019 including AFI DOCS, BFI London, Heartland International Film Festival, Hot Docs, Indie Memphis, Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, True / False Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, and Pan African Film Festival, among others, and won more than 18 awards.[4][5] On August 28, 2020 Mr. SOUL! was released in limited theaters and virtual cinemas.[6][7][8]

Mr. SOUL!, will make its public television debut on February 22, 2021 presented by Independent Lens at 10 p.m., on PBS and on the PBS video app.[9][10]

Critical reception

As of December 21, 2020, Mr. SOUL! has received overwhelmingly positive reviews and has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 23 critic reviews and states that, "Mr. SOUL! aims an overdue spotlight on a groundbreaking chapter in the history of American public television and the host who helped make it all happen."[11]

Cast

Archival footage

Awards & Accolades

Mr. SOUL!! received 30 Nominations and won 19 awards including 14 Film Festival Awards.[12][13]

Accolades
Awards / Film Festival Category Result
2021 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Documentary (Film) Pending
Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture) - Melissa Haizlip - Writer Pending
Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture) - Melissa Haizlip Pending
2021 Cinema Eye Honors Outstanding Debut Feature Pending
2020 Critic's Choice Documentary Awards Best First Documentary Feature Won
Best Documentary Feature Nominated
Best Narration - Blair Underwood - Narrator, Melissa Haizlip - Writer Nominated
Best Archival Documentary Nominated
Best Historical - Biographical Documentary Nominated
2019 FOCAL International Awards Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment Production Won
Student Jury Award for Most Inspiring Use of Archive Won
Best Use of Footage in a History Feature Nominated
Best Use of Footage in an Arts Production Nominated
2019 Library of Congress Lavine / Ken Burns Prize for Film Finalist Won
2018 International Documentary Association Awards Best Music Documentary Won
2018 AFI Docs Festival Audience Award - Best Feature Documentary Won
2018 All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF)[14] Jury Award - Best Documentary Won
Audience Award - Best Documentary Won
2018 Dallas DocuFest Meta Media Award Won
2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Audience Award - Top 20 Audience Favorites Nominated
2018 Indie Memphis Film Festival Jury Award - Best Sounds Feature Won
Audience Award - Best Sounds Feature Won
2018 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival HBO Jury Award - Best Documentary Won
2018 Audience Award - Best Documentary Won
2018 Out on Film Festival Jury Award - Best Documentary Won
Audience Award - Best Documentary Won
2018 Pan African Film Festival Jury Prize - Best Documentary Won
2018 Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival Special Jury Award Won
2018 Urbanworld Film Festival HBO Jury Award - Best Documentary Won
2018 Woodstock Film Festival Audience Award - Best Documentary Won

References

  1. options, Show more sharing; URLCopied!, Copy Link (18 September 2020). "Column: A 2020 Emmy Awards list for the captive home audience". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. Chiu, David. "'Mr. Soul!' Documents Pioneering TV Show That Celebrated Blackness Through Music And Talk". Forbes.
  3. Chiu, David. "'Mr. Soul!' Documents Pioneering TV Show That Celebrated Blackness Through Music And Talk". Forbes. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. Newman, David Fear,Jason; Fear, David; Newman, Jason (17 April 2018). "20 Movies We Can't Wait to See at Tribeca Film Festival 2018". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  5. "Mr. SOUL! | 2018 Tribeca Film Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  6. Chiu, David. "'Mr. Soul!' Documents Pioneering TV Show That Celebrated Blackness Through Music And Talk". Forbes. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  7. Hammond, Pete (26 October 2020). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations: 'Mr. Soul', 'Gunda', 'Crip Camp' And 'Totally Under Control' Top List". Deadline. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  8. "The Award Winning Film — "MR. SOUL!" Unveils New Theatrical Trailer and Poster | Radio DJ | FM | Teddy Pendergrass | Song". 18 August 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  9. "MR.SOUL! | Films | PBS". Independent Lens. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  10. Lang, Brent (22 December 2020). "Independent Lens Winter Slate Includes Documentaries by Jared Leto, Shalini Kantayya (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  11. "Mr. SOUL! (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  12. "MR. SOUL! Wins Critics Choice Documentary Award for Filmmaker Melissa Hailzip | Black Star News". www.blackstarnews.com. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  13. "2021 Nominees". NAACP Image Awards. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  14. "MR. SOUL! wins top doc prize at aGLIFF festival". NON FICTION FILM. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.