A decade after his death, genre-defying filmmaker William Greaves has one last trick up his sleeve with what he considered the most important event he captured on film: a 1972 party he engineered with the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. For four hours, this extraordinary group —many of whom had not seen each other in fifty years— reminisced, critiqued, argued, laughed and drank while wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape. Shot on 16mm film, newly restored and now directed by Greaves’ son David, this landmark film is at once a self-exploration and an inquiry into the heart of the critical mass of energy called the Harlem Renaissance.
William Greaves, David Greaves
William Greaves (1926–2014) was an award-winning director and editor from Harlem who produced over 200 documentaries, creating an immense body of work that documented, reflected on, and celebrated the African American experience. His filmography constitutes a unique and powerful portrait of the United States and its checkered history. It includes ‘Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One’ (1968), ‘Nationtime’ (1972), and ‘Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey’ (2001). ‘Once Upon a Time in Harlem’ (2026) is his posthumous final film. David Greaves is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist who holds an MFA from Columbia University. He worked as cinematographer and editor on many of his father’s films, and he was one of the original cameramen during the 1972 shoot for ‘Once Upon a Time in Harlem’, which he also completed. In 1996 he founded DBG Media and the award-winning independent newspaper ‘Our Time Press’.
DIRECTOR
William Greaves, David Greaves
SCREENPLAY
William Greaves
CINEMATOGRAPHY
David Greaves, Doug Harris, David Hoffman, Jerry Pantze
EDITOR
Lynn True, Anne de Mare
SOUND
Clive Davidson, Roland Mitchell, Mike Frank
MUSIC
Tamar-kali
PRODUCTION
Liani Greaves, Anne de Mare
PRODUCTION COMPANY
William Greaves Productions
CAST
Regina Andrews, Eubie Blake, Romare Bearden, Arna Bontemps, Ernest Crichlow, John Henrik Clarke, Ida Mae Cullen, Aaron Douglas
