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Your weekend movie budget just got a little breathing room—and your watchlist is getting a remarkable piece of New York history.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and distributor NEON have teamed up to present four free screenings of Once Upon a Time in Harlem on Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25. The documentary will play at AMC Magic Johnson Harlem, Film Forum and Film at Lincoln Center, giving New Yorkers a chance to spend an afternoon with some of the Harlem Renaissance’s most extraordinary minds.
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The occasion captured onscreen happened in 1972, when pioneering filmmaker William Greaves gathered surviving artists, writers and cultural figures from the movement at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. Among the guests were artists Aaron Douglas and Romare Bearden; writer Arna Bontemps; photographer James Van Der Zee; and Ida Mae Cullen, widow of poet Countee Cullen.
Filmed on 16mm, the gathering offers a look at these figures as they debate, reminisce, laugh and consider the legacy of the cultural movement they helped create. And ultimately, getting that footage to audiences became a multigenerational family project. William conceived and filmed the documentary; his son, David Greaves, directed it; and his granddaughter, Liani Greaves, produced it. William’s wife, Louise Archambault Greaves, also helped shepherd the project, bringing on producer and editor Anne de Mare after his death in 2014. The finished film has since screened at Sundance, Cannes, Telluride, Toronto and the New York Film Festival, according to NEON.
“ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM brings the personalities, ideas, and debates behind the Harlem Renaissance to life for a new generation of New Yorkers,” Mayor Mamdani said in the announcement.
On Saturday, October 24, you can catch it at 1pm at AMC Magic Johnson Harlem at 2309 Frederick Douglass Boulevard or 4:45pm at Film Forum at 209 West Houston Street. Or on Sunday, October 25, at 1pm at AMC Magic Johnson Harlem or 3:45pm at Film at Lincoln Center’s Howard Gilman Theater at 144 West 65th Street.
You’ll need to RSVP through the screening signup form in advance, but a reservation doesn’t guarantee admission. Organizers say the screenings are overbooked, with seats distributed first-come, first-served to people on the RSVP list.
Bring your email confirmation and arrive at least 30 minutes early; organizers warn that lines could start forming hours beforehand. Seat-saving isn’t allowed, so coordinate with your movie buddy before joining the queue.