Kino Lorber Acquires North American rights to J.M. Harper's Sundance prizewinning doc 'Soul Patrol'
“Jolting and heartbreaking. An essential historical chronicle…at the heart of the documentary is the conflict between the men’s pride in their skill, bravery and devotion and their doubts over the purported reasons for the war.”
– Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
“Haunting, revelatory…Soul Patrol contributes a little-known chapter to the nation’s understanding of Vietnam War and Black history.”
– Lisa Kennedy, Variety
“A compelling account of the Vietnam War’s first Black special operations team, told 50 years later…These are Black men who survived against all odds.”
– Dan Mecca, The Film Stage
Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to J.M. Harper’s Soul Patrol, an intimate, immersive documentary that reunites the first all-Black special operations team fifty years after serving in the Vietnam War. Based on the bestselling memoir by Ed Emanuel, Soul Patrol made its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where Harper was awarded the US Documentary Competition Directing Award. Following Sundance, the film was an official selection at the True/False Film Festival, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, DC/DOX, and was recently awarded the top documentary prize at the 2026 Sarasota Film Festival. Kino Lorber is planning an awards season theatrical release this fall followed by a digital, educational, and home video release.
Soul Patrol uncovers a hidden chapter of American military history, following the men of Company F, 51st Infantry, an elite Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) unit operating deep behind enemy lines. With unprecedented access to this once-secretive group of African-American veterans, director J.M. Harper reconstructs their journey with an immediacy rarely seen in Vietnam War storytelling, using raw Super 8 footage, photographs, and audio recordings from their personal archives. Opening on the war’s 50th anniversary, the surviving members reunite in a hotel that becomes a surreal liminal space, where memory, brotherhood, and unresolved trauma collide. As the men reflect on their experiences, the film interrogates the contradictions of fighting for freedom abroad while facing inequality at home. Soul Patrol is not just a war story, but a reckoning – an intimate portrait of survival, memory, and the enduring cost of war on those asked to fight it.
The deal for Soul Patrol was negotiated by Kino Lorber VP of Acquisitions Karoliina Dwyer and CAA and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.
“Making Soul Patrol has been one of the great honors of my life,” said director J.M. Harper. “Ed Emanuel trusted us with a story that he and these soldiers have carried quietly for half a century, and our hope has always been that the film could help restore their place in history. Kino Lorber has long championed films that preserve memory, challenge viewers, and expand the cultural record, so this partnership feels especially meaningful. We’re excited for Soul Patrol to reach a wider audience and for this extraordinary, long-overlooked story to be seen in theaters.”
“Soul Patrol stayed with me long after its Sundance premiere earlier this year," said Lisa Schwartz, Chief Distribution & Revenue Officer for Kino Lorber. “It was unbelievable that the story of this incredible group of veterans had not been told long ago, and I knew immediately that we needed to be a part of this film. With stunning archival footage, impressive cinematic style, and honest emotional moments, Soul Patrol is essential documentary storytelling that honors a group of men whose recognition is long overdue. We're grateful to Ed Emanuel for sharing his story and to J.M. Harper for his exceptional work and talent bringing it to life. We couldn't be more proud to bring this film to North American audiences.”
Soul Patrol is Kino Lorber’s second acquisition out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, following Rafael Manuel’s Filipiñana, and marks the latest move in a busy 2026 for the independent distributor, whose documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin recently won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Soul Patrol joins Mr. Nobody Against Putin and 2025 Academy Award-nominee Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat in the Kino Lorber catalog as docs which all began their awards season journeys at Sundance.
Soul Patrol is a Wavelength and Impact Partners presentation of a Park Pictures, Gestalt Picture Co. production, in association with Mass Appeal and Concordia Fellowship. Written and directed by J.M. Harper, and based on the book by Ed Emanuel, the film is produced by Sam Bisbee, Danielle Massie, J.M. Harper, Nasir Jones, and Peter Bittenbender and executive produced by Ed Emanuel, Joe Plummer, Jenifer Westphal, Stacey Reiss, Lance Acord, Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Cody Ryder, Wendy Neu, Jenny Raskin, Kelsey Koenig, Lauren & John Driscoll, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Davis Guggenheim, Rahdi Taylor, Andrew Gertler, Max Allman, Ted Haddock, and Nina & David Fialkow.