Overview
- Neon announced Tuesday that it will release Once Upon a Time in Harlem in U.S. theaters on October 16, 2026.
- The documentary is assembled from 16mm footage William Greaves shot in 1972 of a cocktail party at Duke Ellington’s Harlem home where surviving figures of the Harlem Renaissance gathered and spoke for hours.
- William Greaves died in 2014 and his widow worked on the project until 2023, after which his son David Greaves and David’s daughter Liani finished the film.
- Producer Anne de Mare oversaw restoration and digitization of the long-shelved material, and Neon acquired U.S. rights after the film premiered at Sundance and screened at Cannes, reportedly prevailing over offers from Netflix and Mubi.
- The release arrives just after Greaves’ centenary and could raise wider interest in archival restoration, family-led completions of unfinished work, and recovered Black cultural histories on the festival-to-theater circuit.