William Greaves’ Harlem Renaissance Documentary Premieres at Cannes 50 Years After Filming

William Greaves’ Harlem Renaissance documentary, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, premieres at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight fifty years after it was shot, completed by his son David and granddaughter Liani. The film records a 1972 cocktail party where surviving Harlem Renaissance figures debated identity, art, and politics.

He invited painters, writers, musicians and organizers—Aaron Douglas, Richard Bruce Nugent, Arna Bontemps, Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, James Van Der Zee and Ida Mae Cullen—many of whom had not seen each other for decades. Over four hours they laughed, reminisced and argued about the movement’s legacy.

The footage sat unused for Greaves’ 1974 film From These Roots, and though he made dozens of other works, he never finished the Harlem project before his death in 2014.

The documentary premiered internationally at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, marking its first global showing. In the film, guests debate whether to discard the term “Negro” in favor of “Afro‑American,” a discussion David says mirrors today’s debates over Black, African American and people of colour.

David notes the conversation feels strikingly current, pointing to parallels between Haile Selassie’s 1936 aid appeal and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent quest for international support.

Its loose, freewheeling style—four cameras catching spontaneous moments—preserves the authenticity of the participants’ voices, making the historical debate feel immediate rather than archival.

Audiences can expect the film to spark renewed conversation about how language shapes identity and how past struggles inform current activism. What to watch next: potential distribution deals, festival circuit stops, and community screenings that could bring the documentary to classrooms and public forums across the UK and beyond.