Inspired by Rachel Moseley-Wood’s essay “The Other Jamaica”, Damian Marley’s controversial song “Welcome to Jamrock”, and juxtaposed views of Jamaica via tourism and marginalized Jamaicans. This short animation uses found film of Jamaica in the 1930s-60s to manipulate the camera’s ethnographic points of view.
"Standard Bearer" chronicles the recording of Swedish rapper Promoe's album "White Mans Burden". It features studio recordings from the making of the album in Kingston, Jamaica and Malmö Sweden. The documentary contains guest apperances by Capleton, Assasin, DaVille, Fantan Mojah, Lady Saw, Leeroy from Saïan Supa Crew and a flashback from the making of Looptroop's "Hurricane George" with Timbuktu, Chords and the DVSG family in 2004.
30 years after Bob Marley's death Jamaica continues to be on top of the world-wide music scene. Reggae has evolved into a new genre, Dancehall.
A collaboration between filmmaker Ayoka Chenzira and performance artist Thomas Pinnock, who performs his "immigrant folktales" using traditional lore of his native Jamaica to dramatize his migration to New York in the 60's.
NYC based photographer, Khalik Allah, travels to Jamaica to connect with family and document the streets. This is his synopsis.
This feature length documentary charts the story of the great Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee. A legend himself, there’s not a lot of pioneers of roots and reggae that he didn’t work with, becoming the go-to producer for that dub sound coming out of Jamaica in the sixties and seventies, further cementing his legacy when he started licensing his productions straight to London labels. Diggory Kenrick’s doco calls on not only Lee himself to tell the story, but features the likes of U Roy, Dennis Alcapone, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sly and Robbie, Johnny Clarke and Johnny Holt among others.
Soon Come Back is a poetic documentary about migration’s effect on Nande's relationships to “home” in Jamaica and the US, and her feelings of alienation being a child of the diaspora.
Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta—ganja, reggae, and dreadlocks—this cultural history offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s Leonard Percival Howell and the First Rastas had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, that established the vision for the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century, Rastafarianism. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell's message, and through Marley's visions, reggae made its explosion in the music world.
Violent gangster action set in LA and Kingston, Jamaica, from director Trenten Gumbs. When West Coast drugs baron 'Diamond' Mitchell (Samuel Marshall) is exposed by his wife as a criminal during their divorce proceedings, he finds himself in trouble with his partners in the Jamaican Yardies and the Mafia.
Will Brown, A life coach, investigates the connection of the Duppy-Man and the disappearance of two of his clients while on vacation in Jamaica.
Documentary about reggae in Jamaica and its history. Filmed in 1979.
This is Ska is a Hi-Energy documentary on JAMAICAN dance music from 1964
Music lovers fascinated by the ideas, experiences, and emotions that serve as the foundation of Jamaican reggae are invited to explore the history of the legendary Soul Syndicate - a collection of talented musicians who provided backup instrumentation for such acclaimed artists as Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Mayals, Burning Spear, and Bob Marley and the Wailers among others.
“Dub Echoes” is a documentary that traces the origins of the Jamaican dub music and it’s influence on the development of hip hop and electronic music.The film shows how the Jamaican invention called dub ended up influencing much of the music we hear today, from electronic music to hip-hop, transforming the studio in a musical instrument and giving way to all of sonic experiments.
This is a story about a mother's love for her child and an activist's love for his country - and the stakes are life and death. Spanning five countries, THE ABOMINABLE CRIME explores the impacts of homophobia through the eyes of two gay Jamaicans who are forced to choose between their homeland and their lives. Simone, a young lesbian mother, survives being shot outside of her home by anti-gay gunmen. She must choose between living in hiding with her daughter in Jamaica or traveling alone to seek safety and asylum abroad. Maurice, Jamaica's leading gay-rights activist, is outed shortly after filing a lawsuit to overturn Jamaica's anti-sodomy law. He escapes to Canada, but decides to return to continue his activism.
A powerful portrait of the leaders of the reggae music Movement, and how Reggae has become a worldwide phenomenon. The film showcases performances by the best Reggae and Dance Hall artists ever assembled. From their native ghetto to international fame, "Made in Jamaica" is the story of the artists who represent the Jamaican Dream.
Plagued with poverty and violence, Jamaica tries to inspire its populace by qualifying their national team, the 'Reggae Boyz', for the World Cup. When their efforts start to fall short, Winnie Schäfer, a colorful German coach, teams up with reggae musicians to unite Jamaica beyond the soccer pitch.
He was and is, without doubt, Jamaica's finest export and in this programme we can reveal for the first time the behind the scenes Bob Marley that only his closest confidantes could know. To understand more about this iconic Jamaican his long time girlfriend and Oscar nominated actress Esther Anderson describes in some detail along with exclusive unpublished home video footage, their life together at home in Jamaica and of their time spent in Hope Road, London. Of all the people who considered themselves closest to him, Esther was probably the person who knew more about the man's innermost thoughts and fears than any; so much was she in tune with him she even helped to write some of his hit records. Also featured is the last interview he would ever give in the UK when journalist Kris Needs questions him about his foot injury (the injury that would eventually kill him) plus many other topics about which Marley held strong views.
Mento was the first national music of Jamaica and it begat Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and the Dancehall music of today. No film has been made wholly about the subject and it is a little known genre around the world.
Loose cannon cop Capone returns to his home town of Kingston to join a group of officers fighting organised crime in the area. On his first day he uncovers gun smuggling operation that may be connected with lead criminal Oney. However his old crew, led by Ratty, also are involved leading Capone to a choice between his job and his old crew.