William Greaves' Harlem Renaissance doc to screen at Cannes 2026
The documentary 'Once Upon a Time in Harlem', directed by William Greaves in 1972 and completed posthumously, will premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. The film assembles key artists and intellectuals from the Harlem Renaissance movement, capturing the cultural ferment of 1920s African American art, literature, and music. Greaves, a pioneering African American filmmaker, died in 2014; the project was finished by his collaborators. The screening marks a major recognition of both Greaves' legacy and the enduring significance of the Harlem Renaissance.
Key facts
- Documentary 'Once Upon a Time in Harlem' directed by William Greaves.
- Filmed in 1972, completed after Greaves' death in 2014.
- Features artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance.
- Set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival in 2026.
- Focuses on African American cultural movement of the 1920s.
- William Greaves was a pioneering African American filmmaker.
- The documentary was finished by Greaves' collaborators.
- Cannes 2026 will host the premiere.
Entities
Artists
- William Greaves
- David Greaves
- Liani Greaves
- Aaron Douglas
- Richard Bruce Nugent
- Arna Bontemps
- Eubie Blake
- Noble Sissle
- James Van Der Zee
- Ida Mae Cullen
- Countee Cullen
- Duke Ellington
- Ruth Ellington
- Marcus Garvey
- Langston Hughes
- Haile Selassie
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- Louise Greaves
- Bernice Green
- Richard Brody
Institutions
- Cannes Film Festival
- Cannes Directors' Fortnight
- The New Yorker
- Our Time Press
- Barbican
- Smithsonian
- League of Nations
- Guardian
Locations
- Cannes
- France
- Harlem
- United States
- New York
- London
- United Kingdom
- Africa
- Ethiopia
- Italy
- Ukraine
- Russia