 Though the film won the Critics' Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and was acclaimed at the Toronto International Film Festival, it never saw wide release due to complications in securing the music rights for the 22 songs on the soundtrack, which included such big names as Dinah Washington, Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, and Earth, Wind and Fire.It remained in obscurity for nearly 30 years, garnering much critical and academic praise and earning a reputation as a lost classic.The film did not win an award until four years after it came out, after having to wait four years for it to be released.