Documentary about reggae in Jamaica and its history. Filmed in 1979.
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The decades-long debate surrounding reparations is fraught, mired in racial tension and the semantics of restorative justice. While the national conversation remains stalled due to legislative inaction, communities across the country examine their histories and take it upon themselves to arrange their own form of reparations. This detailed investigation of restitution presents accounts of everyday people confronting the past and exploring the possibilities of wealth transfer.
Historical documentary about the life of Victor Schoelcher, a French politician and abolitionist active from 1848 to 1893.
The film tells the story of modern slavery from the perspective of the only Russian organization carrying out mass rescue missions both within the country and abroad.
A portrait of Rastafarians living in Tottenham at the start of the new millennium.
Directed by Elio Suhamy.
Awake Zion explores the connections between Rasta, Reggae and Judaism, through one woman's beat-laden adventure into the meaning of identity. All the way back to the alleged sultry affair between the Jewish King Solomon and the African Queen of Sheba, Jewish influence is evident in the spiritual history of Ethiopia - turning up subtly in Rastafarian lifestyle and then, inevitably, in reggae. Unravelling the story of this unlikely kinship, Awake Zion unites Jewish and Jamaican musicians, scholars, and historians in a celebration roots and culture - traveling from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where Caribbean and Jewish cultures share a history of adversity - to Jamaica, the birthplace of reggae - and ultimately to Israel, where a sizzling reggae scene thrives today. Awake Zion examines the preconceptions of what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be Rasta, what it means to be white or black - and, most importantly, the universal search for what it means to be "home".
During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.
An independent crew organizes sound system-style events for their community in the far north of São Paulo, using reggae music as a central form of cultural expression and resistance. Through pulsating bass, street parties, and collective gatherings, they transform public space into a vibrant platform for the identity, memory, and voice of the urban periphery.
Returning to the island that her father left 50 years earlier, the filmmaker goes back in time to retrace the history of her name.
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.
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.
The Myth of the Black Woman is a feature-length documentary that examines the imagery of black women in the media, from the 18th century black slave to Michelle Obama. It is an investigation into how stereotypes originate from slavery and still affect the lives of black women in Quebec. These stereotypes include Jezebel (the seductress, the femme fatale); Mammie (the obese woman, the asexual mother figure) and Sapphire (the angry, ambitious and arrogant black woman). This story will be told by black women on whom stereotypes have a high impact, through interviews with fascinating experts, and through archival footage from centuries past to the present.
A fascinating account of the presidency of Andrew Jackson, who was both one of America's great presidents and a borderline tyrant. The seventh president shook up the glossy world of Washington, DC with his "common-man" methods and ideals, but also oversaw one of the most controversial events in American history: the forced removal of Indian tribes, including the Cherokees, from their homes.
“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.
The term "Lapo Chapé", derived from Martinican Creole, means "the skin color that escapes the status of a slave." This documentary thus explores the themes of skin color and mixed heritage from a unique perspective, through a series of testimonies that shed light on the invisible influences of history. These influences have shaped our social representations and continue to challenge our perceptions of identity today.
Ladies, All The Ladies is the result of Lady Lucy’s self-imposed search to meet other Ladies.
Documentary about reggae music and culture in London in 1977. Filmed in Super 8 camera by Don Letts. With participation of Richard Branson, Neneh Cherry, Paul Cook, Sly Dunbar, Paul Weller, John Lydon, Joe Strummer, Siouxsie Sioux, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and others. Released in 2017.
This film sheds light on the little-known history of plantations and the enslaved in North Florida. It seeks to advance a sense of place and identity for thousands of African-Americans by exploring the invisible history of slavery in Leon County.
A team of journalists investigate how human trafficking and child labor in the Ivory Coast fuels the worldwide chocolate industry. The crew interview both proponents and opponents of these alleged practices, and use hidden camera techniques to delve into the gritty world of cocoa plantations.
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.
Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. Directed by Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), MARLEY is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.
A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the recording of Aretha Franklin's best-selling album finally sees the light of day more than four decades after the original footage was shot.
Here's a little story they're about to tell... Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz share the story of their band and 40 years of friendship in a live documentary experience directed by friend, collaborator, and their former grandfather, Spike Jonze.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Fully authorized, access-all-areas feature doc on the hugely charismatic and globally adored Usain Bolt – officially the fastest man alive. With never-before-seen archive footage of his youth in Jamaica, through to original footage that will be captured at his fourth and final Olympic Games in Rio, where he will compete for the gold in both the 100 and 200 metres races, for a third straight Games before his retirement in 2017. I AM BOLT will reveal the man and define the legacy of this incredible athlete.
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
Explores the true story of the notorious Jesse James, how the myth developed during his lifetime, and how the legends have persisted over 100 years after his death at the hands of his former friend, Robert Ford.
During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
A night of drunken chaos rocks a quiet Dutch town in this shocking documentary about a teen's birthday invite that accidentally went viral on Facebook.
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans, based on his famous 1994 autobiography.
James Brown changed the face of American music forever. Abandoned by his parents at an early age, James Brown was a self-made man who became one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, not just through his music, but also as a social activist. Charting his journey from rhythm and blues to funk, MR. DYNAMITE: THE RISE OF JAMES BROWN features rare and previously unseen footage, photographs and interviews, chronicling the musical ascension of “the hardest working man in show business,” from his first hit, “Please, Please, Please,” in 1956, to his iconic performances at the Apollo Theater, the T.A.M.I. Show, the Paris Olympia and more.
In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening - women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. This documentary revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.
In 1997, rap superstars Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G.) were gunned down in separate incidents, the apparent victims of hip hop's infamous east-west rivalry. Nick Broomfield's film introduces Russell Poole, an ex-cop with damning evidence that suggests the LAPD deliberately fumbled the case to conceal connections between the police, LA gangs and Death Row Records, the label run by feared rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight.
A documentary about the making of David Fincher's 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Virtually every element in the evolution of the Fincher's film is documented here, from the project's attachment to numerous other directors during the 1990s, to its shoot in 2006 and 2007 in New Orleans, to its complex, CGI-intensive postproduction process.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
