Once Upon a Time in Harlem

Jan 25, 2026

1h 40m

★ 0.0

A film 50 years in the making

Overview

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.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

William Greaves Productions

JustFilms / Ford Foundation

Once Upon a Time in Harlem Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self (archival footage)

Aaron Douglas

Self (archival footage)

Richard Bruce Nugent

Self (archival footage)

Ernest Crichlow

Self (archival footage)

Eubie Blake

Self (archival footage)

Leigh Whipper

Self (archival footage)

Arna Bontemps

Self (archival footage)

William Greaves

Self (archival footage)

James Van Der Zee

Self (archival footage)

Ida Mae Cullen

Self (archival footage)

Noble Sissle

Self (archival footage)

Romare Bearden

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