Lost 1972 Harlem Party Film Wins $200,000 Library Prize

A cocktail party filmed in 1972 and finished 50 years later has won a $200,000 American prize for history on screen.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem was named winner of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, The Hollywood Reporter reported on 18 Sept 2026. The award honours films that tell American stories from the archives and the record.

The film centres on a single evening inside Duke Ellington's townhouse. In 1972, filmmaker William Greaves invited every surviving creator of the Harlem Renaissance he could locate to a filmed gathering there. He shot it cinéma-vérité, a fly-on-the-wall style with no staging, on 16mm film, according to the Library of Congress.

The reels sat unfinished for decades. Greaves' son David Greaves later finished and restored the material, more than 50 years after it was shot. The finished film is credited to David Greaves and his late father, William Greaves.

The prize carries $200,000 for the winner. It was established in 2019 and is presented each year by the Library of Congress and The Better Angels Society. Funding comes from Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine through the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation.

Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen chose this year's winner and runner-up in consultation with documentary maker Ken Burns. The runner-up was Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage, directed by Deborah Riley Draper. It receives $50,000, while four other finalists each receive $25,000.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem already has a long festival run behind it. It has screened at Sundance, Cannes, Telluride and Toronto. It will play the 2026 New York Film Festival on 29 Sept, then open in select theatres from 16 Oct.

Distribution is by Neon, the independent company behind a string of recent arthouse releases, The New York Times reported.

What makes this stand out is the chain of hands involved. One filmmaker organised the room in 1972. Another completed the edit a generation later. A national library now puts prize money behind getting it seen.