Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) is a 2025 American documentary film, directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson. It explores the life, career, and legacy of Sly and the Family Stone.
It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2025, and was released on February 13, 2025, on Hulu and Disney+.
Premise Explores the life, career, and legacy of Sly and the Family Stone. Andre 3000, D'Angelo, Chaka Khan, Q-Tip, Nile Rodgers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Joel Selvin, George Clinton, Ruth Copeland, Dream Hampton, Mark Anthony Neal, and Clive Davis appear in the film.
Production In February 2021, it was announced Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson would direct a documentary revolving around Sly and the Family Stone with Common set to executive produce.
In the making of the film, some interviews from Greg Zola's Small Talk About Sly and Michael Rubinstone's On the Sly: In Search of the Family Stone were used.The Hollywood Reporter, January 23, 2025 - MOVIE REVIEWS, ‘Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)’ Review: Questlove’s Admiring Portrait Gives Sly Stone His Flowers By Lovia Gyarkye
In January 2023, Onyx Collective and Hulu acquired the film.
Release It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2025. It was released on February 13, 2025.
Reception Critical response Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half out of four stars and wrote, "Sly Lives! isn't as eye-opening as Summer of Soul (a difficult hill to climb). But it's still a clear cut above your standard hagiographic music documentary. This film sees Sly as a three-dimensional person whose brilliance should neither absolve nor condemn him. It marvels at his genius and mourns the evaporation of his hitmaking talent. It is as vibrant, colorful, and catchy as any Sly and the Family Stone chart-topper."
Accolades Award Year Category Recipient(s) Result Critics' Choice Documentary Awards 2025 Best Music Documentary Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) Primetime Emmy Awards 2025Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction SpecialJoseph Patel (produced by), Derik Murray (produced by), Amit Dey (executive producer), Questlove(executive producer), Zarah Zohlman (executive producer), Shawn Gee (executive producer) International Documentary Association2025Best Music DocumentarySly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) IndieLisboa International Independent Film Festival2025Indiemusic Schweppes AwardQuestlove Black Reel Awards for Television2025Outstanding DocumentaryQuestlove Portland Critics Association Awards2025Best Documentary FeatureSly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) Gotham TV Awards2025Outstanding Original Film, Broadcast, or StreamingQuestlove (director), Eric Maran (producer), Derik Murray (producer), Joseph Patel (producer), Stephen Sawchuk (producer) NAACP Image Awards 2026Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)Questlove Cinema Eye Honors Awards2026Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast FilmQuestlove Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast EditingJoshua L Pearson
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