With ‘Summer of Soul,’ Questlove Wants to Fill a Cultural Void

“This just sat in a basement and no one cared,” Questlove said about the Harlem Cultural Festival footage he watched on loop for months to make his new, acclaimed documentary.

The year 1969 was “pivotal,” says the Rev. Al Sharpton in “Summer of Soul,” a documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival, a music extravaganza that took place over six weeks at the dawn of the Black Power Movement. “Where the Negro died and Black was born,” he said. Now in theaters and premiering on Hulu on Friday, “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” is the directorial debut of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the drummer and co-leader of the Roots, a hip-hop group and the in-house band for “The Tonight Show.” The acclaimed film was compiled from 40 hours of live footage from the festival, as well as news accounts and recent interviews with concertgoers and performers, including Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Mavis Staples and Ray Barretto. They were all deeply impacted by a festival that took place in Mount Morris (now Marcus Garvey) Park from June 29 to Aug. 24, 1969.