Overview
- David Greaves completed Once Upon a Time in Harlem from his late father William Greaves’s unfinished materials and screened the finished film at Cannes in May 2026.
- The finished edit narrows William and Louise Greaves’s broader plan to focus on cinéma‑vérité footage of a 1972 gathering at Duke Ellington’s Harlem home that was shot on multiple 16mm cameras.
- David inserted his father into the film’s structure and prioritized the party material over the original treatment’s proposed contemporary interviews and Sidney Poitier narration.
- NEON has acquired the film for theatrical release beginning in October 2026, and the family says they plan a public-facing archive and educational screenings built from the restored footage.
- The project highlights questions of stewardship and authorship as restoration work by Louise and editorial choices by David move rare primary material about the Harlem Renaissance into wider circulation.