Questlove’s Sly Stone documentary is headed to Sundance

Back in 2021, Summer of Soul, the documentary film directorial debut of Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Then it became a critically acclaimed sensation, winning both an Oscar and a Grammy.

Now, Questlove is headed back to Sundance in 2025 with a new doc that dives deeply into a subject who was featured in Summer of Soul: Sylvester Stewart, a.k.a Sly Stone, the leader of the 1960s and 1970s R&B and rock band Sly & the Family Stone.

Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) will premiere at next year’s festival, which kicks off Jan. 23 in Park City, Utah.

“It’s official! SLY LIVES! (AKA The Burden of Black Genius) will premiere at the 2025 #Sundance Film Festival,” Questlove announced on Instagram on Wednesday, quoting the festival’s description of the movie, which, like Summer of Soul, is produced by Joseph Patel.

“The film explores the life, music, and cultural impact of Sly Stone, shedding light on the challenges faced by Black artists navigating success,” the post read.

Last year, Stone’s memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), which was cowritten with Ben Greenman, was the first book published by Questlove’s AUWA Books imprint, which is part of part of Macmillan Publishers.

Sly Lives! is one of several music docs premiering at Sundance, including films about Jeff Buckley, Selena, and John Lennon & Yoko Ono. A film version of the Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider Woman with Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna is also on the festival lineup.

Screening in the festival’s Episodic category are the first two episodes of Bucks County, U.S.A. The five-part docuseries revolves around two 14 year-old-girls who are friends despite their opposing political beliefs, amid public education disputes in the purple collar county outside Philadelphia. It’s directed by Barry Levinson and Robert May.