Mr. SOUL!

Name: Mr. SOUL!
Director: Melissa Haizlip
Released: 2018

Melissa Haizlip 2018

From 1968 to 1973, the public television variety show SOUL!, guided by the enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an uncompromising celebration of Black culture. 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. Mr. SOUL! captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate, and an unsung hero whose voice we need now more than ever.

Mr. Soul! was listed by the The American Library Association (ALA)’s Film and Media Round Table as one of its 12 Outstanding and Notable films for 2022: “a celebration of and an ode to Blackness”.

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Running Time:

104 min.

Spoken Languages:

English

Directors:

Melissa Haizlip

Producers:

Melissa Haizlip

Cinematographers:

Hans Charles

Editors:

Giovanni P. Autran, Annukka Lilja, Blair McClendon

Production Companies:

Shoes In The Bed Productions

African American Studies

Press

The New Yorker

An enthralling and illuminating documentary about Ellis Haizlip and the “Soul!"'s place in history.
Copious interviews with scholars and artists, along with the show’s co-producer Christopher Lukas, detail Haizlip’s bold vision of the political role of the arts—further seen in the infuriating story of its cancellation, which involved Richard Nixon

Richard Brody
Forbes

Mr. Soul... provides a lot more than a history lesson on a decades-old T.V. show and its profound contribution to black arts and culture. It's also a rich, deeply affecting profile of Haizlip himself, and an exuberant cinematic celebration of some of the best – and boldest – performances ever seen on television

David Alm
CBS This Morning

New Documentary Shines Light On Historic Black Variety Show ‘SOUL!’
Some of the most remarkable footage that we have is just amazing, when you see the young Al Green, and he is just absolutely gorgeous, and has so much energy, and you can just see the soul coming out of him

CBS LA Staff
Variety

“Mr. Soul!” is a documentary that’s been gathering steam and generating Oscar buzz, and when you see it (which you really should), you’ll know why.

Owen Gleiberman
Deadline

Melissa Haizlip's Mr. SOUL! wins BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The world needs this variety of storytelling now more than ever, and all of these documentaries moved us in unique ways

Pete Hammond
New York Times

A documentary resurrects the magic of “Soul!,” a boundary-pushing public television show that celebrated the rich diversity of Black culture in the ’60s and ’70s.

Devika Girish
Good Morning America

Paying tribute to the 1st black late night show
Filmmaker Melissa Haizlip talks about her film “Mr. Soul!” which remembers her uncle, Ellis Haizlip, America’s first black nighttime talk show host.

ABC News staff
KCRW Press Play

“Some folks thought it would be a good idea to make ‘the Black Tonight Show.’ But I think the idea really was to change the public perception of Black America and really to create a space”

Madeleine Brand
CLTure

Mr. SOUL!’s director Melissa Haizlip explores the seminal work born from her Uncle Ellis, from its genesis in 1968 to its racially motivated cancellation after 130 episodes in 1973 due to political pressure

Douglas Davidson
On The New Film “MR. SOUL!”

In today’s guest post, Gayle Wald shares her appreciation for the TV show Soul! and the new movie Mr. Soul!, about its creator, Ellis Haizlip. Wald is Professor of American Studies at George Washington University and author of It′s Been Beautiful: Soul! and Black Power Television (2015).

Gayle Wald, Duke University Press Website

Festival Participation

Black Reel Awards - 2021
Outstanding Independent Documentary
Guild of Music Supervisors Awards - 2021
Best Music Supervision for a Documentary: Ed Gerrard Nominee
NAACP Image Awards - 2021
Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Critic's Choice Documentary Awards - 2020
Best First Documentary Feature
FOCAL International Awards - 2019
Best Use of Footage in an Entertainment Production; Student Jury Award for Most Inspiring Use of Archive
Library of Congress Lavine / Ken Burns Prize for Film - 2019
Finalist Award Winner
Woodstock Film Festival - 2018
Audience Award - Best Documentary
International Documentary Association Awards - 2018
Best Music Documentary
AFI Docs Festival - 2018
Audience Award - Best Feature Documentary
All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) - 2018
Jury Award - Best Documentary; Audience Award - Best Documentary
Dallas DocuFest - 2018
Winner
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival - 2018
Audience Award
Indie Memphis Film Festival - 2018
Jury Award - Best Sounds Feature
Indie Memphis Film Festival - 2018
Audience Award - Best Sounds Feature
Urbanworld Film Festival - 2018
HBO Jury Award - Best Documentary
Pan African Film & Arts Festival - 2018
Best Feature Documentary
Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival - 2018
HBO Jury Award - Best Documentary; Audience Award - Best Documentary
Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival - 2018
Special Jury Award
Oscar Shortlist - 2021
Best Original Song Nominee
NAACP Image Awards - 2021
Outstanding Documentary (Film) Nominee, Outstanding Breakthrough Creative Nominee
Cinema Eye Honors - 2021
Outstanding Debut Feature Nominee
Critic's Choice Documentary Awards Nominations - 2020
Best Narration: Blair Underwood; Melissa Haizlip, Writer; Best Archival Documentary; Best Historical / Biographical Documentary

Additional Materials

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