BOB MARLEY. THE MAKING OF A LEGEND

de Esther Anderson y Gian Godoy (2011, Uk)

Running time: 90 mins

Screening Format: 4:3

Language: English & Jamaican Patois

Subtitles: Spanish TBC

Based on footage shot in the early seventies and lost for more than thirty years, "Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend" takes us on a journey to the Caribbean islands, to Jamaica and into 56 Hope Road, Kingston, to see and hear the young Bob Marley before he was famous. While exploring the powerful relationshi

p between Esther and Marley, the film shows us the Wailers' first rehearsal, when the idea of a Jamaican supergroup like the Beatles or the Stones was still just a dream, and sits in on the launch of their international career with "Get up Stand up", "I Shot the Sheriff", and the "Burnin'" and "Catch a Fire" albums that brought to the world Reggae music and Rasta consciousness together as one, starting a revolution that would change rock music and contemporary culture

LE PREMIER RASTA

de Hélène Lee (2011, Francia)

The First Rasta - SYNOPSIS

at the beginning of the last century, the young Leonard Percival Howell (1893 – 1981) left Jamaica, became a sailor and travelled the world. on his way, he chanced upon all the ideas that stirred his time. From Bolshevism to New Thought, from Gandhi to anarchism, from Garveyism to psychoanalysis, he sought to find his promised land. with this cocktail of ideas leonard “Gong” howell returned to Jamaica and founded pinnacle, the first rasta community in 1939.

Thereafter, a way of living and thinking was developed which nourished the reggae culture that Bob Marley would spread worldwide.

It is high time to pay tribute to Leonard Percival Howell, the First Rasta, whose revolutionary, political and social discourse resonates with the altermondialist movement of today.

The soundtrack of the film is signed by historical producers (Bunny Lee) and young talent from the international scene (100 Grammes de Têtes, Tu Shung Peng, Groundation). The live music notably includes: Max Romeo (first historical reggae star on the international scene), The Abyssinians (authors of Satta Massagana, the anthem of the return to the promised land), the drummers of Count Ossie (the founders of Jamaican rhythm, also known as Mystic Revelation of Rastafari) with Bro Royer and Filmore Alvaranga, member of the Mission to Africa of 1961, Miss Audrey Whyte-Lewis (member of Pinnacle, who interpreted the early Rasta anthems). 

LOVERS ROCK

de Menelik Shabazz (2011, Uk)

Menelik Shabazz, (director of Burning An Illusion) charts the rise of Lover’s Rock. Through live performances from the leading exponents of the genre along with humorous reflections and interviews the film brings back to life the era of the late 70s and 80s when the music was at a highpoint. Lovers Rock was British, the first UK ‘girl power’ music that gave a voice to many first generation black British young people but not exclusively. Along with the music came a unique fashion style and ‘scrubbing’ an intimate dance between male and female that defined the Lovers Rock brand.

The film also combines archive footage, photographs and interviews to build a portrait of a music and a generation that has rarely been told. Performances include Janet Kay, Carroll Thompson, Jean Adebambo, Michael Gordon. The humour is provided by the likes of Robbie G, Eddie Nestor, Angie La Mar, Wayne Rollins, Glenda Jaxson amongst others.

Lovers Rock, often dubbed ‘romantic reggae’ is a uniquely black British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems.  Live performance, comedy sketches, dance, interviews and archive shed light on the music and the generation that embraced it. Lovers Rock allowed young people to experience intimacy and healing through dance- know as 'scrubbing'- at parties and clubs. This dance provided a coping mechanism for what was happening on the streets. Lovers Rock developed into a successful sound with national UK hits and was influential to British bands (Police, Culture Club, UB40) These influences underline the impact the music was making in bridging the multi-cultural gap that polarized the times. Lovers Rock was more inclusive than the competing 'roots' reggae scene, it gave a voice to first generation British born young women particularly in it's early period. The  film highlights a forgotten period of British music, social and political history. Interviews include, Levi Roots, Linton Kwesi Johnson, UB40, Maxi Priest, Janet Kay, Dennis Bovell, Angie Le Mar, Dr Lez Henry.

HIT ME WITH MUSIC

de Fernando García Guereta (2011, España)

30 years after Bob Marley’s death Jamaica continues to be on top of the world-wide music scene. Reggae has evolved to produce a new genre, Dancehall. Anywhere, at any time, tunes created by artists from the ghetto fill the island’s soundscape. They tell the story of a society whose reality is marked by violence and poverty.

Through the protagonists of this documentary we’ll get to know Dancehall and what it is about. A diverse group of individuals, including Yellowman, the original King of Dancehall, talk of the context in which these songs are born and what the phenomena represents in their life and the lives of many supporters.

The film presents and represents the urban street culture and lifestyle that fuels and is born out of the new music of young Jamaicans and captures the elements of dance which form an integral part of nightlife in Kingston.

The Dancehall phenomena is unstoppable in Jamaica and the rest of the world, and continues to highlight the realities of life for poor Jamaicans, in spite of the efforts of the Jamaican government to attract tourists by hiding this reality behind its “Jamaica No Problem” image.

Artistes, dancers, music producers, schoolchildren and the youths on the street explain the content of the polemic Dancehall lyrics and the lifestyle created by the music. The Gully – Gaza clash between supporters of Vybz Kartel and Mavado, the controversial subject of “Daggering” and the reasons why people bleach their skin, are all explored in this documentary.

We’ll also get to know about the dreams and hopes of the majority of the poor and underprivileged in Jamaica. 

ROCKMAN

de Mattia Epifani y Tommaso Manfredi (2011, Italia)

L' ass. culturale Ritmo Radicale e Fluid Produzioni presentano 'ROCKMAN', un docufilm ideato da Tommaso Manfredi per la regia di Mattia Epifani, tratto dal libro DAI CARAIBI AL SALENTO

(Nascita Evoluzione e identità del reggae in Puglia) di Tommaso Manfredi. Il film, scritto da Mattia Epifani, Tommaso Manfredi e Davide Barletti, è un progetto vincitore del bando di concorso indetto dalla Regione Puglia 'Principi Attivi – Giovani Idee per Una Puglia Migliore' (prodotto con il contributo di Apulia film commission) e racconta le prime fasi del reggae in Puglia attraverso la figura di MilitantP, un artista poliedrico e creativo, il leone del reggae pugliese, oggi ospite presso una casa di riabilitazione nel profondo Salento.

Piero Longo, classe 1966, in arte 'MilitantP', salentino di nascita e barese d'adozione, ha creato un ponte tra la Bari degli anni '80 e la primigenia scena reggae salentina degli anni '90, costituendo poi lo storico gruppo Sud Sound System salvo uscirne nel 1992 a causa del peggioramento della sua condizione psichica. La storia di Rockman si sviluppa seguendo due binari principali: da un lato la complessa, turbolenta e affascinante vicenda artistica e umana di MilitantP; dall'altro le interviste ai protagonisti del reggae pugliese, supportate da un archivio audiovisivo che è il risultato di una ricerca sul campo durata più di un anno.

La resistenza, le idee di cambiamento politico e sociale, le iniziative di autogestione, le prime feste reggae in Salento, il centro sociale 'La Giungla' a Bari e le feste 'pirata' sul litorale adriatico, sono solo alcuni degli ingredienti che rendono questa produzione un documento importante non solo per gli appassionati del genere, ma per tutti, in particolare per quella generazione che trovò nella musica 'alternativa' al circuito ufficiale un modo per reagire allo straniamento culturale dell'epoca successiva agli anni '70.

Rockman è il primo documentario interamente dedicato alle origini del reggae pugliese, e aggiunge un altro importante tassello nel campo della cinematografia internazionale sull'argomento, accanto a film come 'The harder they come','Rockers', o 'Babylon', che hanno spiegato l' essenza e le ragioni del reggae giamaicano e inglese diventando documenti imprescindibili per chi volesse avventurarsi nello studio di una musica che è suono ribelle, vibrazione positiva e non violenta, voce del popolo, cura per l' animo.

PULL IT UP. AN ITALIAN STORY

de Giovanni De Gaetano (2011, Italia)

“Pull it up” project grows from the desire of a group of friends to describe the musical scene of which they take part from various years.

The documentary wants to make a retrospective on the reggae sounsystem’s scene in Italy that boasts a twenty-years history by  now and, according to  many insiders, it  represents one of the most thriving scenario in Europe.

“Pull it up” is developed through the stories of the people that have taken part to this adventure such as One Love Hi Powa, Vito War, Don Ciccio, Godzilla, Mad Kid, I-Shence, Northern Lights and many more. As it happened in Jamaica, in Italy as well the soundsystems have contribute to make a widespread coverage of the reggae and dancehall music on the entire country.

The project shows the peculiar features of soundsystem scene;like the construction of the huge systems of loudspeakers in order to emphasize the low frequency of which reggae and dancehall music are rich; or the soundclash when two  or  more soundsystems face  each  other in a  chellenge where the audience decree the winner being based on the music played and on the entertainment skills.

The documentary doesn’t forget to talk about the changes and the evolution of musical market, from the beginning to the develop of the newest technologies in an area where,up to the lasts years, the trade of vinyls has had the control.

A review on a trend that is in continuous evolution, that fill wih people the clubs all over Italy from the big cities to the remote provincial towns; in these places many events took place throught the years as the reggae  summer nights  in Salento (South Italy), the Rototom Sunsplash Reggae Festival and a long series of little festivals that rise, frequently in every part of Italy. 

WHY JAMAICANS RUN SO FAST

de Fernando García Guereta (2010, España)

Jamaica. The island is at a standstill as people’s eyes are glued to television. Lead by the fastest man alive, Usain Bolt, Jamaican athletes are winning the sprinting competitions at the Bejing Olympics. They break world records and challenge all logic. No world super-power can contest the victory of this small Caribbean nation. This is the story of the six gold medals that put Jamaica at the center-stage of every country’s world map.

“A story that reveals how music and athletics have become ways to escape from poverty and violence in Jamaica. This documentary allows us to get closer to the harsh reality that shapes these young athletes.”

INTENSIFIED. COME FORWARD

de Jep Jorba y Marc Almodóvar (2010, España)

20th December 1990, Bottoms Club, Folkestone, England. A group of young musicians who play authentic Jamaican rhythms are about to play their first ever gig in a run down nightclub located in a small town in south-east England. The two and a half quid to enter to the gig is too much money for the teens who are waiting at the door, not willing to pay more than fifty pence for the show. What the crowd outside didn't know at that moment (nor imagine the same musicians in the dressing rooms) is at that very moment is being born one of the most important and influential bands of the Jamaican music scene in Europe.


Intensified has touched the hearts of thousands of Caribbean rhythms lovers over the last 20 years, filling them with pure Ska, Rocksteady and Reggae, playing throughout Europe and accompanying some of the most prestigious(or "well known") Jamaican singers: Dave Barker, Alton Ellis, Winston Francis and Pat Kelly. In this documentary we discover the secrets and stories that explain the origin and development of this incredible band.

LONDON TOWN

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.

RICO. THE LEGACY

de Jep Jorba y Marc Almodóvar (20...,España)

20th December 1990, Bottoms Club, Folkestone, England. A group of young musicians who play authentic Jamaican rhythms are about to play their first ever gig in a run down nightclub located in a small town in south-east England. The two and a half quid to enter to the gig is too much money for the teens who are waiting at the door, not willing to pay more than fifty pence for the show. What the crowd outside didn't know at that moment (nor imagine the same musicians in the dressing rooms) is at that very moment is being born one of the most important and influential bands of the Jamaican music scene in Europe.

Intensified has touched the hearts of thousands of Caribbean rhythms lovers over the last 20 years, filling them with pure Ska, Rocksteady and Reggae, playing throughout Europe and accompanying some of the most prestigious(or "well known") Jamaican singers: Dave Barker, Alton Ellis, Winston Francis and Pat Kelly. In this documentary we discover the secrets and stories that explain the origin and development of this incredible band. 

ETIOPÍA UTOPÍA

“Utopía Etiopía” es el testimonio espontáneo, filmado y realizado por los músicos Alberto Tarín y Sergio Monleón, de los eventos celebrados en la capital de Etiopía, Adís Abeba, durante el mes de Febrero de 2005 alrededor de la figura del músico jamaicano Bob Marley y el concepto de “unidad africana” enmarcados en el acontecimiento oficial Africa Unite.Una experiencia única que sirve de reflexión en torno a la figura de Bob Marley y su relación con Etiopía. Treinta minutos intensos que dibujan una realidad más allá de lo estrictamente informativo. Música e imágenes originales de un acontecimiento irrepetible.Unicef, Oxfam, Bob Marley Foundation, Rita Marley Foundation, Africa Unite Organization, Sheratton Hotel Addis, Ethiopian Airlines, Coca-Cola, la ciudad de Addis, el gobierno etíope y la iglesia ortodoxa, músicos y artistas, oradores, actores, personalidades varias, la familia Marley con todos sus hijos sobre un escenario…ingredientes suficientes para una combinación atractiva.

EXODUS - FINDING SHELTER

The adventures surrounding Rototom Sunsplash’s move from Italy to Spain have been made into a film: “Exodus – Finding Shelter.” This 55 minute documentary, filmed by the Roman director Tommaso D’Elia, will be presented in Udine on March 11th and Rome on March 14th.

The film, produced by the cultural associations “Exodus” and “Paneikon,” tells the story of an Italian cultural event envied by the whole world, which was forced to relocate due to political obstinacy that reduced it to a mere “promotion of drug use.” The resulting "exodus" uprooted a valuable cultural experience that was capable of teaching so much from an organizational and philosophical point of view, as championed by UNESCO as promoters of a “peaceful and non-violent culture.”

LA NOTTE DEL LEONE

de Giorgio Carella (2002, Italia)

Milano, 27 giugno 1980.
Bob Marley suona allo Stadio San Siro, aperto per la prima volta alla musica. È il concerto più importante della sua vita, centomila persone, un anno prima di partire per un altro tour, via da questo mondo.
L’Italia, il paese maledetto che nel 1936 ha spodestato il suo Dio in terra, il Leone di Giuda, Ras Tafari, Hailé Selassié imperatore d’Etiopia, esce dal magma caldo degli anni Settanta e da quattro stagioni di silenzio musicale.
Qualcuno lo racconta come un evento storico: quella notte aveva vent’anni e la rivoluzione veniva sommersa da un triste riflusso di cui Milano ha voluto farsi simbolo.
Qualcuno dal reggae si è fatto cambiare la vita: irruzione di un ritmo fecondo, così disponibile a lasciarsi trasformare da dialetti e suoni, pronto a diventare la voce dei mille ghetti buttati dove finiscono le città. Qualcuno voleva soltanto ballare...Fumare e ballare...
In ogni caso, Bob sembrava contento. 

JAMAICA MON AMOUR

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.