Before Oprah and Arsenio, there was Mr. SOUL! From 1968 into 1973, the public television variety show SOUL! offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics, capturing a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate today.

Join audiences nationwide on Friday, February 19, 2021, at 6:00 pm ET, for a virtual Indie Lens Pop-Up screening of Mr. SOUL! featuring a live poetry reading by Tongo Eisen-Martin (San Francisco Poet Laureate) and a panel discussion with:

• Denise A. Greene, Director of Program Initiatives, Black Public Media (moderator)
• Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco Poet Laureate
• Melissa Haizlip, Producer, Writer, Director, Mr. SOUL!

The film screening will be open captioned and the livestream poetry reading and Q&A will have ASL interpretation.

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About the Film

Mr. SOUL! by Melissa Haizlip

From 1968 into 1973, the PBS variety show SOUL!, guided by enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics—voices that had few other options for national exposure and, as a result, found in the program a place to call home. 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. Through participants’ recollections and illuminating archival clips, Mr. SOUL! captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate and celebrates an unsung hero whose voice we need now more than ever, to restore the soul of a nation.

Mr. SOUL! will air and stream on PBS's Independent Lens on February 22 at 10/9c. Learn more.

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This event is hosted by Indie Lens Pop-Up, Black Public Media, and The WNET Group, in collaboration with Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College, Arizona Public Media, Bud Werner Memorial Library, Charitable Film Network, City of Mesa, Durango Public Library, Gary International Black Film Festival, Georgia Public Broadcasting, Global Peace Film Festival, Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking, Kansas City Public Library, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Panhandle PBS, PBS Hawai‘i, Pickford Film Center, Project Humanities, Red River Theatres, Tillotson Center, Upstate Films Ltd., WSIU Public Broadcasting, and Yale Film Archive.

With support from ITVS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS.

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Note for those joining from outside the U.S.: To ensure each show does not exceed its granted rights for streaming PBS content, PBS.org is subject to geo-filtering, which unfortunately eliminates international streaming ability for Mr. SOUL!.

If you are joining from outside the U.S., please join us for the live performances at 7:00pm ET.