Phil Gries's "Harlem School 1970" is an astonishing achievement in direct cinema storytelling. Gries manages to captivate the viewer through his unique approach on displaying the realistic inner lives of young students in this harlem school. The film sent me in a complete nostalgic journey, a journey that caused me to become even emotional at the very end. Phil Gries is one of the most talented filmmakers to date, and I truly cannot stress enough how many people NEED TO SEE THIS FILM. This film is beyond powerful. Phil has a natural talent with the camera, especially from an observational standpoint. He knows where to be, and when to be-in order for the best results possible. This film is AMAZING. I truly mean that. I highly recommend.
2 Reviews
Harlem School 1970
griestvaudio20 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
1-"A very special wonderful document...shot beautifully" -Chris Hegedus Academy Award nominated documentary Filmmaker.
2-"What an important and prescient film! You have done impressive work, Phil." -Bill Moyers American journalist / political commentator.
3-"We feel a real kinship and hope we can make the Los Angeles screening." Award winning documentary filmmakers - Blue Field Productions.
4-"An astonishing documentary." -Ron Simon Curator, Television & Radio at Paley Center for Media.
5-"Your film looked great...loved the B/W cinematography. A valuable time capsule documentary." -Alan Raymond, Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker.
6-"HARLEM SCHOOL 1970 made me more than a little nostalgic for the days when the Maysles, Pennebaker, Leacock, Wiseman, et al, first captured my own imagination with this new cinema. Your film reminded me of the patience and discipline it took to wait for the moment." -Dave Davidson Documentary award winning filmmaker & Chair of CCNY Graduate MFA Film program.
7-"You did it! Harlem School 1970 gave me the feeling of being there. It is an important social document and timeless. I can't imagine how you made it through, making the film AND teaching! Wow." -Jill Drew Producer, Director and General Manager of Robert Drew Associates.
8-"The skill I see in this film, working alone with a Bolex and capturing audio, covering the workflow, as if you had several producers and cameras scoping the area, and showing the attention to detail...artistry beyond measure. A great film and more." -Alan Lebow Director of Photography award winning filmmaker - Alan Lebow Productions.
9-"HARLEM SCHOOL 1970 was one of the very select group of finalists during our viewing and deliberation process and we recognized it as an exceptional and high-quality work." -Michael Lumpkin Director, AFI DOCS 2018 Film Festival.
10-"I was just knocked out by the caring exhibited by teachers and personnel even with all the madness of one's surrounding." -Eric Kulberg Executive Producer, Universal Media, Inc.
11-"Harlem School 1970," a "fly on the wall" documentary, revealing a day in that world, one I would have never gotten to experience otherwise. A true documentation of life at a fascinating place during a unique time without being emotionally manipulative." -Jackson Upperco USC Film Department Graduate student.
12-"Viewing 'Harlem School 1970' did not disappoint! The Photography is superb, and your matching of "wild sound" was executed perfectly. I am amazed that you got so much close-up footage without anyone breaking the fourth wall. It certainly is remarkable that there aren't more movies like this around, but the reward, all these years later, is a big one. A terrific documentary. -Gary Rutkowski Broadcast Archivist, University of Wyoming.
13-"Nicely shot, in crisp b&w with a lot of period flavor and emphasis on interesting close-ups. Interesting details revealed (you have a good eye for detail). The high point in the film is the kids singing "This Land Is Your Land," which you wisely reprise." -Tim Brooks Author of "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present."
27- "BRAVO! Your documentary is a wonderful portrait of a Harlem School. It captures a period of time in a community that is rarely seen. I have several documentary photography books in black and white and your film evokes that work for me reminiscent of the impactful photography by Roy DeCarava and Gordon Parks. Again, BRAVO!" Savanna Washington Producer / Director Aardvark Alley Films Lecturer, Adjunct Assistant Professor The Borough of Manhattan Community College, and The New School.
28- "Your interactive decision and ability to record history a half century ago...without hard evidence such as you have provided, what proof could there be that any of this really happened?-that maybe it was all imagined. Malto Grazie." Hugh Downs Television host and Author.
29- "I viewed Harlem School 1970 last night and I was absolutely stunned!
This kind of unfettered access and camerawork doesn't exist anymore. Today, everyone gets so held up on privacy rights or burying their noses in media.
Not everything in life needs a Werner Herzog or David Attenborough narration.
You were truly a fly-on-the-wall and the school spoke for itself. C. S.30 was a functioning school that educated, entertained, and disciplined much like almost any other school now or then. People will appreciate this work." Eric Appleman Film Critic
30- "I have watched a lot of documentaries and 'Harlem School 1970' is unique as an early example of 'direct cinema,' innovative filmmaking unconventional style for its time, providing a rare look inside a public elementary school in Harlem New York, circa April 1970. What is remarkable to me is watching the kids reacting outside and inside the classroom without playing to the camera. It truly felt like I was eavesdropping, experiencing kids being kids during a typical day in 1970." Ed Robertson Radio Producer & Host of TV Confidential and Author.
31- "I found 'Harlem School 1970' exhilarating for its historicity, capturing children who just never stop moving. I was quite captivated not only by the activity in the classrooms, the lunchroom, and the schoolyard, but by the way you photographed and edited life within the school.
'Harlem School 1970' is a documentary exemplified for its rarity and timeliness, and should be seen and made public.
Laurance Kardish Former MoMA Senior Film Curator (1999-2012).
32- "An historic documentary." Amy Heller Co-founder Milestone Films.
33- "Phil, thank you for sharing this beautiful and heartfelt documentary. The children are so wonderful and the scenes so universal, that it could be from any time and any place, much less a half-century ago. I hope it will be archived at the Schoenberg as well as made available through various channels. A remarkable achievement!" Cynthia Karasek Chair of The Borough of Manhattan Community College (Communications), Media Arts Department.
34- "HARLEM SCHOOL 1970," all beautifully understated - a real slice of urban history.
The Congressman, Adam Clayton Powell, telling those kids they just had to believe they could be anyone and it would happen...well recent times haven't seen that come true." Steve Cole Television Director and Producer - Ascot England, United Kingdom.
35- "I have seen Phil Gries' "Harlem School 1970" and think it's excellent. It is absolutely worth screening and it would be wonderful if the new digital version would be released." Sandra Schulberg President - IndieCollect / Oscar nominated Producer and Film Preservationist.
36- "I enjoyed watching "Harlem School 1970" a great deal. Quite enlightening.
Your documentary is clearly a passion project and beautifully executed. I can see why the likes of Chris Hegedus and Bill Moyers said what they did about your film." Wilfred Frost Managing Director, Paradine Productions Anchor, CNBC's Closing Bell.
37- "This film, "Harlem School 1970" is a rare, rare treat to screen. It is an incredible time capsule allowing us to see where we have been and to think about where we are going." Jessica Green Curator / Programmer "Made In Harlem: Class of '68" Third World Newsreel, Documentary Forum CCNY & Maysles Cinema.
38- "Watching "Harlem School 1970" took me back to my urban public school elementary school days around the same time and with similar majority Black student body. A revealing trip back in time." Cornelius Moore California Newsreel Co-Director (Social Documentary Film Center) 1963-2022 Media for Social Change.
39- "Harlem School 1970 is a thoroughly brilliant work. And you did it without Talking Heads!
A major accomplishment. I loved your cinema verité camerawork. I could watch it endlessly... so, so wonderful. You are holding a genuine rare gem." Lisa Rinzler Emmy Award Winning Director of Photography.
40- "Co-producer Molly Rokosza sent me your Harlem School 1970 trailer and your interview with Ron Simon at The Paley Cerner for Media. What I saw looked really interesting. I'd love to see the whole cut. Could you please send me a link or DVD to my home address in Cambridge, MA?" Errol Morris Academy Award Winning Documentary Filmmaker.
41- "I thought the film was excellent. It took me back, reminiscing to when I was 8 years old going to school to learn, to play and have fun with my classmates. It was a happy and peaceful time for me.
I used to look forward to going to school. I was just overwhelmed revisiting the lunch line, and the fights in the school yard. I am wishing that I could go back to school now. It was so awesome for you to be able to capture those moments of teachers having so much patience with the kids who were so hyper but at the same time, we were learning one on one. We were kids at that time. Just being kids and you Mr. Gries captured that. Your documentary is awesome. It was awesome." Josephine Coulter Immediate reaction after screening at the Premiere of the digitally restored documentary, HARLEM SCHOOL 1970, at the Paley Center for Media by Harlem School Student whom Phil Gries taught in the third grade over 50 years ago.
42- Review by Paul Lee, visiting scholar, Department of African American Studies, University of California, Berkley - "A GREAT TIME CAPSULE DEPICTING THE CRESTING OF THE 'BLACK CONSCIOUNSESS' MOVEMENT OF THE 1960's-EARLY '70s. Phil Gries' "HARLEM SCHOOL 1970," without realizing it, has created a peerless cultural documentary , circa 1970, memorializing a seminal period in Black Americans' five-century sojourn. "HARLEM SCHOOL 1970" should be considered one of the most important motion picture documents of that signal cultural movement. Hands down, this film is one of the best visual records of a cultural shift that was then the occurring movement of the 'black' world.
The film is DRENCHED in meaningful 'black' historical and cultural imagery! INDISPENSABLE viewing."
2-"What an important and prescient film! You have done impressive work, Phil." -Bill Moyers American journalist / political commentator.
3-"We feel a real kinship and hope we can make the Los Angeles screening." Award winning documentary filmmakers - Blue Field Productions.
4-"An astonishing documentary." -Ron Simon Curator, Television & Radio at Paley Center for Media.
5-"Your film looked great...loved the B/W cinematography. A valuable time capsule documentary." -Alan Raymond, Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker.
6-"HARLEM SCHOOL 1970 made me more than a little nostalgic for the days when the Maysles, Pennebaker, Leacock, Wiseman, et al, first captured my own imagination with this new cinema. Your film reminded me of the patience and discipline it took to wait for the moment." -Dave Davidson Documentary award winning filmmaker & Chair of CCNY Graduate MFA Film program.
7-"You did it! Harlem School 1970 gave me the feeling of being there. It is an important social document and timeless. I can't imagine how you made it through, making the film AND teaching! Wow." -Jill Drew Producer, Director and General Manager of Robert Drew Associates.
8-"The skill I see in this film, working alone with a Bolex and capturing audio, covering the workflow, as if you had several producers and cameras scoping the area, and showing the attention to detail...artistry beyond measure. A great film and more." -Alan Lebow Director of Photography award winning filmmaker - Alan Lebow Productions.
9-"HARLEM SCHOOL 1970 was one of the very select group of finalists during our viewing and deliberation process and we recognized it as an exceptional and high-quality work." -Michael Lumpkin Director, AFI DOCS 2018 Film Festival.
10-"I was just knocked out by the caring exhibited by teachers and personnel even with all the madness of one's surrounding." -Eric Kulberg Executive Producer, Universal Media, Inc.
11-"Harlem School 1970," a "fly on the wall" documentary, revealing a day in that world, one I would have never gotten to experience otherwise. A true documentation of life at a fascinating place during a unique time without being emotionally manipulative." -Jackson Upperco USC Film Department Graduate student.
12-"Viewing 'Harlem School 1970' did not disappoint! The Photography is superb, and your matching of "wild sound" was executed perfectly. I am amazed that you got so much close-up footage without anyone breaking the fourth wall. It certainly is remarkable that there aren't more movies like this around, but the reward, all these years later, is a big one. A terrific documentary. -Gary Rutkowski Broadcast Archivist, University of Wyoming.
13-"Nicely shot, in crisp b&w with a lot of period flavor and emphasis on interesting close-ups. Interesting details revealed (you have a good eye for detail). The high point in the film is the kids singing "This Land Is Your Land," which you wisely reprise." -Tim Brooks Author of "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present."
27- "BRAVO! Your documentary is a wonderful portrait of a Harlem School. It captures a period of time in a community that is rarely seen. I have several documentary photography books in black and white and your film evokes that work for me reminiscent of the impactful photography by Roy DeCarava and Gordon Parks. Again, BRAVO!" Savanna Washington Producer / Director Aardvark Alley Films Lecturer, Adjunct Assistant Professor The Borough of Manhattan Community College, and The New School.
28- "Your interactive decision and ability to record history a half century ago...without hard evidence such as you have provided, what proof could there be that any of this really happened?-that maybe it was all imagined. Malto Grazie." Hugh Downs Television host and Author.
29- "I viewed Harlem School 1970 last night and I was absolutely stunned!
This kind of unfettered access and camerawork doesn't exist anymore. Today, everyone gets so held up on privacy rights or burying their noses in media.
Not everything in life needs a Werner Herzog or David Attenborough narration.
You were truly a fly-on-the-wall and the school spoke for itself. C. S.30 was a functioning school that educated, entertained, and disciplined much like almost any other school now or then. People will appreciate this work." Eric Appleman Film Critic
30- "I have watched a lot of documentaries and 'Harlem School 1970' is unique as an early example of 'direct cinema,' innovative filmmaking unconventional style for its time, providing a rare look inside a public elementary school in Harlem New York, circa April 1970. What is remarkable to me is watching the kids reacting outside and inside the classroom without playing to the camera. It truly felt like I was eavesdropping, experiencing kids being kids during a typical day in 1970." Ed Robertson Radio Producer & Host of TV Confidential and Author.
31- "I found 'Harlem School 1970' exhilarating for its historicity, capturing children who just never stop moving. I was quite captivated not only by the activity in the classrooms, the lunchroom, and the schoolyard, but by the way you photographed and edited life within the school.
'Harlem School 1970' is a documentary exemplified for its rarity and timeliness, and should be seen and made public.
Laurance Kardish Former MoMA Senior Film Curator (1999-2012).
32- "An historic documentary." Amy Heller Co-founder Milestone Films.
33- "Phil, thank you for sharing this beautiful and heartfelt documentary. The children are so wonderful and the scenes so universal, that it could be from any time and any place, much less a half-century ago. I hope it will be archived at the Schoenberg as well as made available through various channels. A remarkable achievement!" Cynthia Karasek Chair of The Borough of Manhattan Community College (Communications), Media Arts Department.
34- "HARLEM SCHOOL 1970," all beautifully understated - a real slice of urban history.
The Congressman, Adam Clayton Powell, telling those kids they just had to believe they could be anyone and it would happen...well recent times haven't seen that come true." Steve Cole Television Director and Producer - Ascot England, United Kingdom.
35- "I have seen Phil Gries' "Harlem School 1970" and think it's excellent. It is absolutely worth screening and it would be wonderful if the new digital version would be released." Sandra Schulberg President - IndieCollect / Oscar nominated Producer and Film Preservationist.
36- "I enjoyed watching "Harlem School 1970" a great deal. Quite enlightening.
Your documentary is clearly a passion project and beautifully executed. I can see why the likes of Chris Hegedus and Bill Moyers said what they did about your film." Wilfred Frost Managing Director, Paradine Productions Anchor, CNBC's Closing Bell.
37- "This film, "Harlem School 1970" is a rare, rare treat to screen. It is an incredible time capsule allowing us to see where we have been and to think about where we are going." Jessica Green Curator / Programmer "Made In Harlem: Class of '68" Third World Newsreel, Documentary Forum CCNY & Maysles Cinema.
38- "Watching "Harlem School 1970" took me back to my urban public school elementary school days around the same time and with similar majority Black student body. A revealing trip back in time." Cornelius Moore California Newsreel Co-Director (Social Documentary Film Center) 1963-2022 Media for Social Change.
39- "Harlem School 1970 is a thoroughly brilliant work. And you did it without Talking Heads!
A major accomplishment. I loved your cinema verité camerawork. I could watch it endlessly... so, so wonderful. You are holding a genuine rare gem." Lisa Rinzler Emmy Award Winning Director of Photography.
40- "Co-producer Molly Rokosza sent me your Harlem School 1970 trailer and your interview with Ron Simon at The Paley Cerner for Media. What I saw looked really interesting. I'd love to see the whole cut. Could you please send me a link or DVD to my home address in Cambridge, MA?" Errol Morris Academy Award Winning Documentary Filmmaker.
41- "I thought the film was excellent. It took me back, reminiscing to when I was 8 years old going to school to learn, to play and have fun with my classmates. It was a happy and peaceful time for me.
I used to look forward to going to school. I was just overwhelmed revisiting the lunch line, and the fights in the school yard. I am wishing that I could go back to school now. It was so awesome for you to be able to capture those moments of teachers having so much patience with the kids who were so hyper but at the same time, we were learning one on one. We were kids at that time. Just being kids and you Mr. Gries captured that. Your documentary is awesome. It was awesome." Josephine Coulter Immediate reaction after screening at the Premiere of the digitally restored documentary, HARLEM SCHOOL 1970, at the Paley Center for Media by Harlem School Student whom Phil Gries taught in the third grade over 50 years ago.
42- Review by Paul Lee, visiting scholar, Department of African American Studies, University of California, Berkley - "A GREAT TIME CAPSULE DEPICTING THE CRESTING OF THE 'BLACK CONSCIOUNSESS' MOVEMENT OF THE 1960's-EARLY '70s. Phil Gries' "HARLEM SCHOOL 1970," without realizing it, has created a peerless cultural documentary , circa 1970, memorializing a seminal period in Black Americans' five-century sojourn. "HARLEM SCHOOL 1970" should be considered one of the most important motion picture documents of that signal cultural movement. Hands down, this film is one of the best visual records of a cultural shift that was then the occurring movement of the 'black' world.
The film is DRENCHED in meaningful 'black' historical and cultural imagery! INDISPENSABLE viewing."
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