After another year of being inside, the documentaries of 2021 have provided us with plenty of adventure. They have inspired a sense of looking all around you, or of going back into history to understand how we got to wherever the hell we are now. With filmmaking that continues to redefine what makes a documentary, these features have given us a sense of what’s on our minds, whether it’s immediate issues like journalism, the refugee crisis, policing, the ongoing pandemic, or less immediate but timeless issues, like the chords of a band that will always inspire.

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After taking six Critics Choice Documentary Awards over the weekend, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul” was honored with four nominations from the 2021 IDA Documentary Awards. The 2021 Sundance Film Festival winner and expected Oscar Documentary frontrunner earned nominations in the Best Feature, Best Director, Best Music Documentary and Best Editing categories. The other Best Feature nominees include “Apenas el sol (Nothing but the Sun),” “Faya Dayi,” “FLEE,” “In The Same Breath,” “Jacinta,” “North by Current,” “Not Going Quietly,” “Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker” and “Writing with Fire.”

READ MORE: “CODA,” “Summer of Soul” dominate 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards

Other films with multiple nominations included Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi” and Nicholas Bruckman’s “Not Going Quietly with three each.

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One of the more prestigious precursors for the Documentary Oscar are the IDA Documentary Awards. While the International Documentary Association’s choices don’t always line up with the Academy’s, they can provide a snapshot of where the Doc race is a few months out. This morning, the IDA announced their shortlist for their 2021 awards and it provided good news for acclaimed docs such as “Summer of Soul,” “Ailey,” “Convergence: Courage in Crisis,” “In The Same Breath,” “Who Are You Charlie Brown?” and“Flee.”

READ MORE: “CODA,” “Summer of Soul” dominate 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards

Up to ten nominees in each of the feature and short documentary categories will be selected from the shortlists.

Continue reading ‘Summer of Soul,’ ‘Flee’ & ‘Ailey’ Make 2021 IDA Doc Feature Shortlist at The Playlist.

For the first time in quite a while, the upcoming release schedule for films has veered back into some semblance of normal. There will still be several films that receive the treatment of being released in theaters simultaneously with a run on streaming services – either through a subscription such as HBO Max or paying for a movie while also having the streaming service, it will be available on such as “Black Widow” on Disney+.

Continue reading 12 Films To Watch in July: ‘No Sudden Move,’ ‘The Green Knight’ & More at The Playlist.

Here’s what you need to know, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is the drummer of the seminal hip-hop group, The Roots, also the band leader of the Jimmy Fallon show. Thompson is a musicologist, a renowned DJ, has a P.H.D. Prince, and has his own music podcast. It makes sense that Thompson would venture into making music documentaries. His directorial debut is, “Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised),” about what’s been dubbed the Black Woodstock, an epic Harlem Musical Festival in 1969, that featured many black legends of soul, funk, and rock that had been forgotten.

Continue reading ‘Summer Of Soul’ Trailer: Questlove’s Black Woodstock Doc Frees A Great Musical Treasure From The Vaults at The Playlist.

In Theaters and on Hulu July 2.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary—part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park).

Continue reading ‘Summer of Soul’ Trailer: Questlove’s Celebrated Black Woodstock Doc Gets The Spotlight at The Playlist.

For the first time in recent memory, the Sundance Film Festival recruited just three members each for its competition juries. Even in the context of a virtual festival, that might have been a mistake after one film dominated the Dramatic category winning four awards. In very much a surprise, the crowd-pleasing “Coda” took the Grand Jury-Dramatic, Grand-Jury Audience, Directing (Siân Heder) and a special extra honor for its ensemble.

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“Black Woodstock doc,” reads the director’s clapperboard, the first image we see in the feature debut of drummer, DJ, music producer, journalist, podcaster, and wing enthusiast Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s superb documentary “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).” It’s part joke, part expression of cultural context: Playing the dual role of curator and archaeologist, Thompson presents his audience with footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival, a concert series staged in Mount Morris Park over the summer of 1969 “100 miles away from Woodstock,” as the title cards tell us.

Continue reading ‘Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)’: Questlove’s New “Black Woodstock” Doc Is Superb [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.