# Once Upon a Time in Harlem

Once Upon a Time in Harlem at BAM Rose Cinemas, Thursday 29 October 2026.

- Price: $17
- Venue: BAM Rose Cinemas, Lafayette Avenue 30, 11217 Brooklyn
- With: Duke Ellington
- Get tickets: https://commerce.bam.org/production/59324
- Go to page: https://www.bam.org/film/2026/once-upon-a-time-in-harlem

![Once Upon a Time in Harlem](https://noky.io/images/b4110fa5b5739c2c479489096f1bc7cac1c041fb4d9bff1586db5d362bd15a31-2000.webp)

Once Upon a Time in Harlem is a newly restored documentary, shot on 16mm, capturing Harlem Renaissance luminaries at a cocktail party at Duke Ellington's home. Conceived in 1972 by filmmaker William Greaves and completed fifty years later by his son David, it follows the gathered artists and intellectuals as they reminisce, argue, and drink for four hours. The film features Duke Ellington, Aaron Douglas, Richard Bruce Nugent, Arna Bontemps, Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, and James Van Der Zee. It is an invaluable document of an era's artists wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape, discussing their lives' work and legacies.

## Dates

- Thursday 29 October — BAM Rose Cinemas

Written by a model, sources: [bam.org](https://www.bam.org/film/2026/once-upon-a-time-in-harlem)

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