Mr. SOUL! Q&A
Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 PM ET
The Jacob Burns Film Center is excited to welcome filmmaker Melissa Haizlip for a live virtual conversation with JBFC Board Chairman Emeritus Hugh Price about Haizlip’s documentary Mr. SOUL!
About Mr. SOUL!:
Before Oprah, before Arsenio, there was Mr. SOUL! Ellis Haizlip ensures the Revolution will be televised with “SOUL!,” America’s first “Black Tonight Show.” From 1968 to 1973, the public-television variety show SOUL!, guided by the enigmatic, openly gay producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics—voices that had few other options for national exposure, and, as a result, found the program an improbable place to call home. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. With participants’ recollections and a bevy of great archival clips, Mr. SOUL! captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate.
Melissa Haizlip is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York. Her work responds to pressing social issues at the intersection of racial justice, social justice, activism, and representation. Melissa’s feature documentary, Mr. SOUL!, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and has screened at 50 festivals, receiving 16 Jury and Audience Awards for Best Documentary. Melissa has been awarded grants from the Ford Foundation, International Documentary Association, National Endowment for the Arts, Black Public Media, Firelight Media, and ITVS. She’s currently producing a docuseries on women in hip-hop.
Hugh Price is an activist, philanthropist, and former President of the National Urban League. He has worked for the New York Times on their Editorial Board and as Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation. As President of the National Urban League, Price established the Institute for Opportunity and Equality, and has published several books, including This African-American Life. A JBFC Chairman Emeritus, Hugh Price served on our Board of Directors for 12 years.
You can watch Mr. SOUL! in the JBFC’s Virtual Screening Room. Watch the film at your convenience, and then join us for a conversation with Melissa Haizlip on September 24!
Save your space: Register now for this free Zoom Q&A!
