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.

“One of the greatest cinematic works of creative nonfiction that I’ve ever seen.” — Richard Brody

“A masterpiece!” — Rolling Stone

“[A] truly monumental work of art.” — Vulture

Conceived in 1972 by legendary filmmaker William Greaves and completed 50 years later by his son David, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM is an essential work of living archive and a capstone to one of the most significant filmmaking careers of the past century. Shot on 16mm and newly restored, the film centers on a cocktail party Greaves engineered at Duke Ellington’s townhouse, unfolding over three hours and gathering living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance—many of whom had not seen each other in decades—to reminisce, critique, argue, laugh, and drink while wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.

Directed by Greaves’ son David—one of three cameramen filming that day in 1972—ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM features artists Aaron Douglas, Richard Bruce Nugent, Ernest Crichlow, and Romare Bearden; composers Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle; poet Arna Bontemps; photographer James Van Der Zee; and many more. Through this extraordinary assembly, the documentary examines the artist’s role in Black cultural and intellectual life, the creative and political alchemies that fuelled the Harlem Renaissance, and the creative exchanges through which the artists and thinkers gathered here asserted new forms of Black modernity, self-determination, and collective identity.

Showcasing a trove of never-before-seen footage that William Greaves believed to be the most important he ever filmed, the work stands as both a historic record and a meditation on legacy, memory, and Black cultural expression—realized after William’s death through the tireless stewardship of his wife and creative partner, Louise Archambault Greaves. – SARAH-TAI BLACK

Presented in partnership with Photon Films

Accessibility:

• The film will be presented with closed captioning.

• Paradise has a wheelchair accessible washroom on site and wheelchair accessible spaces within the cinema. 

• Patrons are kindly asked to wear a mask while attending this screening. Black communities continue to be disproportionately affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the structural inequities it further entrenches. KN95 and/or N95 masks will be available onsite for guests, generously provided by @maskbloctoronto.

• Please don’t hesitate to reach out to either Black Gold or Paradise if you have additional access needs, concerns, or questions!

Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.