JAMAICA MON AMOUR

LONDON TOWN

Jamaica 2008. Jamaica mon amour is an “on the road” film, which brings us in contact with the places and persons linked to reggae music, with the beauty and contradictions of this Caribbean Island. Filmed during the tour organized by the European reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash to celebrate its 15th anniversary, this documentary depicts some of the most important places that marked the history of reggae music: Nine Miles, Bob Marley’s Mausoleum, and Tuff Gong, the studio where Bob Marley recorded his greatest hits and which now belongs to his wife Rita. Here we filmed a historical moment, i.e. the very last time the press was used to manufacture vinyl records. The film then takes us along the most significant roads for music production, Studio One Boulevard and Orange Street, into shops that marked the history of reggae, such as Techniques, and the small enterprises where records are still manufactured on vinyl.

During this journey, we will also meet true icons of the past and present of reggae music: Chris Blackwell, the producer who made Bob Marley famous worldwide, Rita Marley, Alborosie, one of most popular present-day reggae artists, the Jamaican Minister for Culture, and many others.
But as the protagonists confirm, reggae music is about the everyday life, joys and sorrows of the Jamaican people, so the documentary will also bring us in contact with today’s reality, the harsh world of those who live in the Kingston slums, the wild nights in the dancehalls, the luscious beauty of the nature.
Jamaica mon amour is a non-fiction film for all those who love reggae music and want to get a clearer insight of the world from which it sprung and developed.

Featuring: Chris Blackwell (producer), Rita Marley (the wife of Bob Marley), Alborosie (musician), Pier Tosi (journalist), Gino Castaldo (journalist), Maria Carla Gullotta (Amnesty International Jamaica), Robert Livingstone (director of Big Yard studio), Lampa Dread (One Love Hi-Pawa)

A film by Tommaso D’Elia and Luca Onorati

Director: Tommaso D’Elia
Editing: Luca Onorati
Interviews by: Tommaso D’Elia, Pier Tosi, Antonio Oristano
Translation and adaptation: Tony Shargool
Edition: Simone Pallicca
Locations in Jamaica: Giovanni Vinci
Organization and locations in Sicily: Gelasio Gaetani
Organization: Manuela Nosella, Silvia Marcolin, Geraldine Locci

Produced by Filippo Giunta – Rototom Sunsplash
Executive producer: Claudio Giust

The documentary intends to retrace the original trail to perceive and feel Africa’s roots within London’s Reggae music.

We cover topical subjects such as the 1948, ‘Windrush’ massive immigration from the Caribbean Islands to London, the Notting Hill riots in 1976, the New Cross massacre in Brixton during the late 80ies and we explore Reggae Music today, stressing its strong influence on both punk and pop music . After the recent film ‘Jamaica mon amour’ , this new production offers in-depth analyses aiming at further understanding the significance of ‘peace, love, respect and unity’.

Interviewees: Chris Blackwell (Music Producer), Vivienne Goldman (a friend of Bob Marley, now writer and biographer of ‘Exodus’), Mad Professor (musician – founder of Ariwa Studios), Linton Kwesi Johnson (poet and songwriter-singer), Mykaell Riley (Prof. at Westminster University – former co-founder of band: Steel Pulse), David Hinds ( Musician, singer and co-founder of Steel Pulse), Ali Cambell (Musician, singer and former front-man, founder of UB40) and many others.

TV Director: Tommaso D’Elia
Assistant Director: Silvia Bonanni
Editor: Luca Onorati
Interviews by Pier Tosi, David Katz, and Tony Shargool
Photography: Tommaso D’Elia, Luca Onorati, Gelasio Gaetani
and Marco Pasquini Alessandro Pesce
Production Secretary: Valentina Bellomo
Production Assistant : Iacobella Gaetani
Translations and adaptation: Tony Shargool
Edition: Simone Pallicca
Organization: Manuela Nosella, Silvia Marcolin, Geraldine Locci
Producers: Filippo Giunta – Chairman Rototom Sunsplash
with: Gelasio Gaetani – Noemi Cinzano
Executive Producer: Claudio Giust