Greaves, who had already carved out a legendary reputation for himself with groundbreaking experimental documentaries like Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One<\/em> (1968) and as the creator and executive producer of the pioneering public television program Black Journal<\/em>, considered his Harlem Renaissance project to be one of the most vital undertakings of his life. Yet, despite returning to the footage off and on over the course of decades, he was unable to complete the film before his death in 2014. <\/p>\n At last, the cinematic vision that Greaves harbored for more than forty years has been brought to life through the dedicated efforts of his son, David Greaves, and his granddaughter, producer Liani Greaves. The completed film, Once Upon a Time in Harlem<\/em>, emerges as a towering achievement among documentaries of its era, and indisputably one of the finest non-fiction films of the year. It is a work of art that feels less like a dusty historical archive and more like history that is actively breathing.<\/p>\n Stepping into Duke Ellington\u2019s elegantly appointed flat feels akin to dropping straight into the middle of a vibrant, ongoing celebration. The viewer is immediately immersed in a space filled with clusters of impeccably dressed people greeting one another with warm embraces, peals of laughter, and animated conversation. (Ellington himself was unfortunately ill and unable to attend the gathering in his own home.) The guests waste no time making themselves entirely at home. <\/p>\n Among them is photographer James Van Der Zee, who famously captured breathtaking, dignified portraits of the major stage performers and "show people" of the 1920s, as well as the everyday citizens of Harlem. In the film, Van Der Zee steps up to Ellington\u2019s piano and gracefully runs through a few rippling, classical phrases. Viewers learn that he was originally trained as a classical musician before turning his focus to photography\u2014offering just one poignant reminder of how creative people in the arts often have to navigate multiple paths to support themselves. Sometimes, those alternate pursuits leave behind a lasting, monumental record of an era. This is clearly visible when Van Der Zee\u2019s gorgeous, expressive portraits flash across the screen like a series of visual blessings.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the room, painter and activist Richard Bruce Nugent is asked what it was felt like to be a living part of the Renaissance. He offers a grounded, reflective response: "While you\u2019re living it, it is the now." Meanwhile, actor Leigh Whipper\u2014noted as the first Black man to join Actors Equity and one of the oldest participants in the room\u2014and publisher and bookseller Richard B. Moore recite long poems and literary passages from the movement entirely by memory. Moore delivers Claude McKay\u2019s brilliant, lacerating poem "If We Must Die" with the effortless passion of someone who had just learned it yesterday, though it is immediately clear that he has lived with its profound weight for decades.<\/p>\n Conversations swell through the room in rolling waves, frequently catalyzed by Greaves himself. Beyond his mastery behind the camera, Greaves was a renaissance man in his own right: a poet, sculptor, actor, and dancer who understood how to cultivate dynamic human interaction. The delicate, rhythmic flow of these exchanges has been brilliantly shaped by editors Anne DeMare and Lynn True. <\/p>\n At one point, Ida Mae Cullen, the spirited widow of celebrated poet Countee Cullen, pipes up to vigorously remind the group that the Harlem Renaissance was a movement that truly spanned just one specific decade\u2014the 1920s\u2014even though its cultural ripples began years prior and continued to resonate for generations afterward. For this remarkable group of people, politics and art are so deeply intertwined as to be completely indistinguishable. A vigorous yet entirely civil cross-talking argument breaks out at one point over the principles and philosophy of Back-to-Africa activist Marcus Garvey. While there is palpable mutual respect humming through the room, sycophantic consensus is notably absent. Among its many pleasures, Once Upon a Time in Harlem<\/em> may well inspire a deep sense of yearning for an era when intellectuals and creatives truly understood the art of dressing with distinction. Society editor Gerri Major, resplendent in a bold, patterned dress, sports roughly ten glittery bracelets on each wrist and carries the look off with absolute aplomb.<\/p>\n What remains striking about Once Upon a Time in Harlem<\/em> is the seemingly casual quality of the captured conversations. Yet, in the hands of these cultural titans, casual is never synonymous with insignificant. Regina Andrews, a regal figure draped in a white lace dress accented by vivid turquoise earrings and a matching necklace, shares a memory of the job she landed as a young woman working as a librarian at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. <\/p>\n Shortly after she was hired, her supervisors explained that certain prominent poets and authors frequently came to the library to work, and that special rooms had been set aside for them. She and her roommate quickly struck up friendships with many of these luminaries, including Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes, and would often host modest get-togethers in their apartment. There was only one logistical problem: they did not own nearly enough dishes to accommodate their guests. <\/p>\n The solution arrived one New Year\u2019s Day when Andrews and her friends set out on a leisurely tour of the neighborhood\u2019s Chinese restaurants. Unbeknownst to Andrews at the time, the men in her party quietly collected a plate here and a cup there as they dined. Suddenly, Andrews found herself in possession of enough mismatched dishes and cutlery to serve everybody\u2014a collection of pilfered crockery that she would treasure for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n While the anecdote of acquiring enough dishware to entertain a burgeoning circle of poets and writers might sound minor on the surface, as Andrews recounts the tale on film, it feels profoundly symbolic. "It was just the joy of living and creating together," she explains. It stands as as good a summation as any of what it must have felt like to be alive during such a glorious cultural dawn\u2014a vibrant "now" that, thanks to the tireless dedication of William Greaves and his family, now becomes an enduring part of our lives as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the autumn of 1972, visionary filmmaker William Greaves orchestrated what has since become recognized as one of the most remarkable and culturally significant gatherings of the 20th century. Taking over the Harlem apartment of legendary composer and musician Duke Ellington, Greaves assembled a carefully chosen group of old friends, brilliant minds, and pioneering colleagues\u2014many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":1870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2592,6,2595,323,4,2591,2593,428,2588,5,7,2371,2594,2589,2596,2590],"class_list":["post-1871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-finance","tag-awaited","tag-budgeting","tag-documentary","tag-finally","tag-finance","tag-greaves","tag-harlem","tag-long","tag-masterpiece","tag-money","tag-personal-finance","tag-reaches","tag-renaissance","tag-restored","tag-screen","tag-william"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"'Once](\"https:\/\/static.time.com\/v3\/assets\/bltea6093859af6183b\/bltac6cce7eb4fb7afa\/6ad29277dee828d31b674d54\/Still_(2)_ONCE_UPON_A_TIME_IN_HARLEM_Courtesy_of_NEON.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&&crop=16:9\")
<\/figure>\n![\"'Once](\"https:\/\/static.time.com\/v3\/assets\/bltea6093859af6183b\/bltf4d2e522a8f0cb16\/6ad2930e5313806a7ecb8da3\/Still_(5)_Gerri_Major_in_ONCE_UPON_A_TIME_IN_HARLEM_Courtesy_of_NEON_copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75\")
<\/figure>\n