Stanley Nelson\u00a0and Firelight Films have partnered with\u00a0Independent Lens\u00a0on a new trilogy of films that will chronicle pivotal moments in American history driven by Black artists, cultural leaders, and everyday people. Nelson will direct and produce three new documentaries comprising \u201cAmerica Revisited II.\u201d The films will span topics such as the rise of funk music, the evolution of African American art, and the deeply rooted, vibrant history of Harlem.<\/p>\n
The trilogy will kick off with \u201cMake It Funky: The History of Funk,\u201d followed by \u201cIn Our Own Image: The Story of African-American Art,\u201d and conclude with \u201cHarlem: The Soul of the Nation.\u201d In addition, Nelson will direct \u201cCreating the New World: The Transatlantic Slave Trade,\u201d a previously announced documentary that was commissioned for \u201cAmerica Revisited I,\u201d an earlier trilogy of films Nelson also directed for Independent Lens.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to be working with \u201cIndependent Lens\u2019 again on \u2018America Revisited II,\u2019 following such a successful run with the first two films from the earlier trilogy, \u2018Tell Them We Are Rising\u2019 and \u2018The Black Panthers\u2019\u2014both of which continue to resonate in national conversations around racial justice happening today,\u201d said filmmaker and Firelight Films founder Stanley Nelson. \u201cWith this next trilogy, I\u2019m excited to turn my lens toward Black artists and culture, and to explore and pay tribute to the rich history of Harlem, the place I call home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, Nelson has directed and produced numerous acclaimed films, many of them covering the civil rights movement and the fight for equality. Many have become landmarks in documentary filmmaking including: \u201cFreedom Summer,\u201d \u201cFreedom Riders,\u201d \u201cJonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple,\u201d and \u201cThe Murder of Emmett Till.\u201d The Emmy Award-winning filmmaker also directed and produced \u201cThe Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,\u201d winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary, and \u201cTell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities,\u201d both of which were part of \u201cAmerica Revisited I\u201d and debuted on \u201cIndependent Lens\u201d in 2016 and 2018 respectively. \u201cThe Black Panthers\u201d remains the highest rated independent documentary to have aired on\u00a0PBS.<\/p>\n
The \u201cAmerica Revisited II\u201d trilogy is produced in partnership with Nelson\u2019s production company Firelight Films and co-funded by ITVS, the leading funder of public television productions in the U.S., as part of its Series and Special Projects initiative. ITVS also co-funded the films featured in \u201cAmerica Revisited I.\u201d The films of \u201cAmerica Revisited II\u201d will premiere on the ITVS flagship series \u201cIndependent Lens\u201d on PBS.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Independent Lens\u2019 is extremely pleased to continue our collaboration with Stanley, one of America\u2019s preeminent documentary filmmakers,\u201d said Lois Vossen, \u201cIndependent Lens\u201d executive producer. \u201cStarting with \u2018A Place of Our Own\u2019 (2004), through \u2018The Black Panthers\u2019 (2016) and \u2018Tell Them We Are Rising\u2019 (2018), Stanley\u2019s deeply influential and revealing work demonstrates his commitment to advancing underrepresented stories from the periphery to the forefront. His films speak powerfully to \u2018Independent Lens\u2019s\u2019 ongoing commitment to excellence, inclusion, and great storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are the official loglines for the films:<\/p>\n
\u201cMake It Funky: The History of Funk\u201d is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from its African and early jazz roots to the early work of James Brown and the rise of Parliament Funkadelic, up through today. Distinctly urban, funk music reflected a post-civil rights movement sensibility. The film examines the symbiotic relationship between the explosion of funk music and the turbulent political and racial dynamics of 1970s inner-city America.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Our Own Image: The Story of African-American Art\u201d explores African American art\u2014from its roots on Southern plantations to its place on the world stage\u2014while telling the moving stories of the artists who create it, the people who collect it, the institutions which protect its legacy, and the era in which the art was created. More than a historical documentary, the film also wrestles with the question: \u201cWhy create art?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlem: The Soul of the Nation\u201d tells the rich, bold, and complicated history of Harlem and the people who witnessed its flourishing. The film dissects distinct periods of Harlem\u2019s development, retracing the dynamic population shifts of the 20th century\u2014from the Jewish and Italian farmlands of the late 19th century to the Black artistic explosion of the Harlem Renaissance and Jazz Age in the 1920s, detailing the story of the \u201cNew Negro Movement\u201d grown in Harlem with the first generation of Black people born completely outside the stifling bounds of enslavement.<\/p>\n