Free screening of ‘Mr. SOUL!’ showcases vital moment in Black broadcast history
For more than a decade, Melissa Haizlip lovingly worked on a documentary that would introduce the pioneering work of her uncle, who produced a public TV show highlighting Black culture during a turbulent time in America.
The New York producer and director’s award-winning documentary “Mr. Soul!” shares the story of her uncle, Ellis Haizlip, the host and producer of “SOUL!” The public television variety show captured the attention of national audiences for five seasons in the late 1960s and early ‘70s.
It highlighted Black musicians, poets, political figures and actors with in-depth interviews and performances at a time when a national platform for elevating that collection of voices didn’t otherwise exist.
“It represented an important moment in broadcast history and in redefining Blackness on television, and what it meant to be Black in America,” Melissa Haizlip said of the show.
CineOdyssey, which produces an annual film festival in Charlotte showcasing diverse, contemporary films, will host a free, virtual screening of the documentary Feb. 11.
Setting the scene for SOUL!
Ellis Haizlip had started out in the New York theater scene, finding success in producing plays such as “Dark of the Moon” with Vinnette Carroll at the Harlem YMCA, which helped launch the careers of Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones, his niece said. He later became the first Black producer hired by WNDT, which has since become WNET, New York’s flagship public broadcasting station.
“SOUL!” was born in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
It was a time of upheaval when the Kerner Commission found America was on the brink of fracturing into two societies, one white and one Black. Public television was tasked to move away from inner city representations of criminality and poverty, Haizlip said, instead showcasing the creativity of the Black Arts Movement.
The show ran from 1968-73, with guests as varied as actors Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte; Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan; Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcom X; poets Amiri Baraka and Nikki Giovanni; and singers Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, and Gladys Knight and the Pips.
“Not only did he champion art and culture, but... my uncle’s story is a reminder of why our stories told by our people matter, now more than ever,” Haizlip said. The time is ripe, she added, for Ellis Haizlip’s voice once again.
“We’re all in it together, and we’re all looking at these issues — conversations about democracy and where we want our country to go.”
Producing the film
Haizlip had always wanted to make a film honoring her uncle, who died in 1991. With the kind of access only a family member has, she spent 10 years crafting “Mr. SOUL!” One stumbling block was that the notion of archiving hadn’t taken root yet at the time “SOUL!” aired. Some of the shows were lost or taped over.
“I have been on a never-ending quest and journey — halfway between a treasure hunt and a wild goose chase — to try to find all the episodes of ‘SOUL!’ and bring them back together,” Haizlip said.
Her work has been funded by grants, and she has used a self-distribution model that shares revenue with the theaters, cultural institutions and mom-and-pop drive-ins showing the independent film.
“It was our way of giving back “ to help them keep their doors open as well, she said. After the COVID-19 pandemic began, streaming made way for wider distribution.
In Charlotte, CineOdyssey will hold its free screening in partnership with the Arts and Science Council’s Culture Blocks and the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists. The film will also premiere on PBS stations on Feb. 22.
“I’m very exited to now bring the film to PBS — it’s like a homecoming for us and for ‘SOUL!’,” Haizlip said.
Black history lesson
Tre’ McGriff, founder of CineOdyssey, said he sees “Mr. SOUL!“ as a Black history lesson on film.
“To see such an eclectic array of the leading Black voices in music, politics, literature waxing poetic on the issues of the day, completely unfiltered, was refreshing,” he said.
“Charlotte audiences should watch this film to learn not only about one of the unsung pioneers of American television, Ellis Haizlip, but also experience Black culture thriving in all it’s glory,” McGriff added, “even against the backdrop of the same challenging issues (racial, economic, political) that plague us today.”
Haizlip also hopes that people who watch “Mr. SOUL!” feel renewed and hopeful.
“We’ve been through so much in this last couple of years… in which we feel a little battered and want permission to feel good again,” the director said. “I made this to be uplifting and inspiring — an act of radical joy.”
‘Mr. SOUL!’
What: A film about Ellis Hazlip and the television show “SOUL!” A Q&A will follow with director Melissa Haizlip and host LaMonte Odums, the former co-host of “Morning Break” on WBTV.
Where: https://www.cineodysseyfest.org/
When: Feb. 11, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
More arts coverage
Want to see more stories like this? You can join our Facebook group, “Inside Charlotte Arts,” at https://www.facebook.com/groups/insidecharlottearts/
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 7:30 AM.