A three-generation family collaboration has taken the top prize in this year’s Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. Once Upon a Time in Harlem, directed by David Greaves using footage shot by his late father, filmmaker William Greaves, and produced by David’s daughter Liani, has been named the eighth annual winner, earning a $200,000 prize.
The film centers on a 1972 cocktail party inside Duke Ellington’s townhouse, captured cinéma-vérité by William Greaves, who tracked down every surviving Harlem Renaissance creator he could find, including Aaron Douglas, Romare Bearden, Arna Bontemps, Richard Bruce Nugent, James Van Der Zee, and Countee Cullen’s widow, Ida Mae Cullen. Many of the attendees hadn’t seen each other in five decades. Greaves’s 16mm cameras captured the group reminiscing, arguing, and grappling with how culture endures across generations. David Greaves restored and completed the footage decades later, turning it into what organizers describe as a living archive of the era.
The National Jury called the film a seminal work likely to be studied and referenced for decades, praising its ability to capture Harlem Renaissance icons reflecting on and debating their own place in American culture. Once Upon a Time in Harlem has the distinction of being the only film this year to screen at Sundance, Cannes, Telluride, Toronto, and the New York Film Festival, where it screens September 29 ahead of a theatrical release beginning October 16. Film Forum will also host a retrospective, “William Greaves 100,” from October 23 to 29, marking the filmmaker’s centennial.
“I was won over from the moment the camera started rolling,” Ken Burns said in a statement. “It’s literally the best party I have ever been to, a festive time travel through the memory of these extraordinary individuals. ‘Once Upon a Time in Harlem’ is a celebration of the Harlem Renaissance but just as important, and riveting, it’s an intimate conversation about the meaning of art and life and how we share ideas across generations.”
The runner-up, Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage, directed by Deborah Riley Draper, will receive $50,000. The film offers a layered portrait of artist Romare Bearden, drawing on his own words and archives to examine his transformation of Black life’s rituals and textures into a distinct visual language. Four additional finalists will each receive $25,000.
Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen called Once Upon a Time in Harlem “a revelation” that “reintroduces us to a range of personalities and perspectives and invites us to participate,” adding that the runner-up “captures how the practice of this extraordinary artist was fully integrated into his life.”
The Prize for Film, established in 2019 by the Library of Congress and The Better Angels Society, recognizes documentary filmmakers telling compelling American history stories, with core underwriting from Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine through the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation. “With overlapping stories and distinct styles, this year’s winner and runner-up illuminate the Harlem Renaissance and its enduring impact on American culture,” said Katherine Malone-France, president and CEO of The Better Angels Society. The Lavines added in a joint statement, “These films give audiences the opportunity to encounter history through the people who lived it, the communities who shaped it, and the stories that too often go untold.”
Six finalists were selected this year by a National Jury of filmmakers, historians, and cultural leaders, including Yoruba Richen, Betsy West, Peter Yost, Annie Polland, Claudrena Harold, Jaie Laplante, Jacqueline Glover, and Rachael Stoeltje. Newlen selected the winner and runner-up in consultation with Burns.
The winner and runner-up will be honored October 22 at a ceremony in New York City with Burns. Since the prize launched in 2019, $2.6 million has been distributed to filmmakers, with past winners including Flannery, Hold Your Fire, Bella!, Drop Dead City, and American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez. Past recipients have gone on to screen across PBS, Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video, and have earned nominations or wins at the Peabody Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Emmy Awards, and IDA Awards.