The film is supposed to feature scenes of Jack Ruby and I-Roy, clips of Bob Marley and the Wailers performing live on stage at Schaefer Music Festival, plus some early footage of Toots+The Maytals live in studio, as well as video recordings of some of the early record stores and observational footage shot on the streets of Kingston in 1974-75 which give “a window into Jamaican social history”.
Looking at the rest of the Reggae Films catalogue however, I´m not really sure what to expect but I´m curious to find out nevertheless.
While I hope Electric Sky / Brassneck TV productions won´t sue me or send me to jail for youtubing the Quicktime version of the trailer you see above, I´m really happy to see Don Letts´ “Carnival!” documentary hitting the streets after premiering at this year´s Notting Hill Carnival.
In “Carnival!”,
Grammy Award winner Don Letts tells the incredible story of Europe’s biggest street party – the Notting Hill Carnival. Wonderful interviews, unseen archive and an amazing soundtrack combine to chart the history of this celebration of multicultural London!
Starting out in 1959 as a response to the worst racial violence the streets of London has ever seen, Carnival began when over a hundred Caribbean Londoners came together, using music and dance in a show of harmony. Half a century later and this multicultural celebration of diversity attracts over a million people to London every year!
A balanced mix of reality and history, the film captivates young and old, black and white, with unseen archive, an amazing soundtrack and wonderful interviews with Sir Trevor McDonald, Paul Simonon of The Clash, Miquita Oliver, Norman Jay and Jazzie B. (via Electric Sky)
“Carnival!” is the “first definite film about the two-day celebration and the issues surrounding it” (via The Independent) and I´m massively looking forward to see the full-length feature.
Anybody seen this at the film festivals it has been shown? Is it any good?
Here´s some background information:
Wah Do Dem co-creators, Ben Chace and Sam Fleischner have been friends since kindergarten. Two years ago Ben won a cruise in a raffle and invited Sam along for the vacation. Both young filmmakers, they decided to turn the trip into a project. With a mutual love for Jamaican culture and a free boat ride to the Caribean, they began to map out the story’s possible scenarios. Two additional cruise tickets were bought for Sean Bones, the lead, and Kevin Bewersdorf, sound recordist/actor. The crew of four boarded the luxury vessel in Red Hook, Brooklyn and sailed for one week. Once in Jamaica they were joined by producer, Katina Hubbard for two weeks of Island production.
Filming months before the Olympics and continuing the journey from Beijing and back, the 61-minute documentary is the only non-American film nominated at this year’s American Black Film Festival.
It is one of three films nominated in the documentary category at the festival, which is slated from June 24-27 in Miami Beach, Florida.
Director Garcia-Guereta strives to find the answer to Jamaican athletes’ speed in the film and in the process, beautifully captures the spirit and zeal of Jamaicans.
“Dub Echoes“, a documentary by Bruno Natal, tells the story of how the Jamaican dub influenced the birth of much of what we hear today, from electronic music to hip hop. The DVD is out now on Soul Jazz records:
Featuring an incredible array of artists, both original Jamaican artists – U Roy, King Jammy, Lee Perry, Sly Dunbar, Bunny Lee (to name a few), alongside a similarly awe-inspiring array of artists who have been taken Dub into new directions in electronic dance music – Kode9, Roots Manuva, Howie B, Adrian Sherwood and many more. This is a killer film to be watched over and over again covering Dub in all its different guises. The DVD comes with loads of extra features, dub mixes and more.
