56 Matches Found
A raw urban drama about two friends raised on the dangerous streets of Kingston, Jamaica. Biggs and Wayne take on the "Shotta" way of life to survive. As young boys, they begin a life of crime, eventually moving to the US where they begin a ruthless climb from the bottom. They remain bound to each other by their shottas loyalty as they aggressively take control of the Jamaican underworld.
Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, plans to make money selling records. After his prized motorcycle is stolen, his plans fall through and he's forced to adapt.
Ivanhoe Martin arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, looking for work and, after some initial struggles, lands a recording contract as a reggae singer. He records his first song, "The Harder They Come," but after a bitter dispute with a manipulative producer named Hilton, soon finds himself resorting to petty crime in order to pay the bills. He deals marijuana, kills some abusive cops and earns local folk hero status. Meanwhile, his record is topping the charts.
Sprinter tells the story of Akeem Sharp who is set to be Jamaica's next big track-and-field sensation. Akeem hopes to rise in the track and field world will take him to the U.S. to reunite him with his mother who has supported the family while living as an illegal resident for over a decade. But Akeem's rising star is weighed down by turmoil at home: a volatile father, and an unruly older brother who insinuates himself into Akeem's career as a means of escaping - or perhaps enhancing - his scam artist hustle. Not only does Akeem have to prove to himself and everyone that he can succeed, but also overcome the struggles that may ultimately bring him down.
Efficiently known as the "Rasta Lawyer" or "Poor People's Lawyer," Diane Jobson has spent her life fighting for the fundamental rights of the poor in the ghetto. Now in her 80s, Diane reflects on a life devoted to defending the marginalised of Jamaica, while preparing to retire on her own terms. Between weekends with her best friend Sally, clouds of ganja smoke, and candid, wry observations about aging, Diane emerges as a rebel soul to the end. A terrible driver, a tireless advocate, and a woman who will never stop living fully.
One Love documents the December 1999 tribute concert honoring reggae pioneer Bob Marley produced in Oracabessa Bay, Jamaica, and originally broadcast on the TNT cable network. Featured is a cross-section of major rock, pop, hip hop, and reggae talent including Lauryn Hill, Chrissie Hynde, Jimmy Cliff, Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, and Tracy Chapman. For its DVD release, the producers have restored an hour of additional footage not included in the broadcast, including bonus songs performed by the Marley Family and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Exclusive DVD features also include a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix and a multi-angle presentation of the concert finale, enabling users to select from five separate angles.
The third 'Japan Gangster War' film.
Gazza, a small-time crook, seeks £35,000 for his gran's care. He overhears a tip, devising a scheme. In 21 days, he must master Jamaican culture to execute a fraud in London and Jamaica, facing life-threatening risks.
A detective's life unravels when a manipulative housekeeper and a failing marriage derail a murder probe, forcing her to save her family.
A Jamaican comedy, the story of a village madman, Aloysious, who has the amazing ability to talk to anything, including trees, cows and cricket balls.
Your friends and enemies have one thing in common, you! Mark leaves his girlfriend to be with Natasha, the girl he truly loves, but her brother Andrew comes with the relationship. Willing to sacrifice all, he adheres to Andrew's manipulations while keeping Natasha ignorant of their deeds, which takes him through a series of violent and necromantic events, thus leading to his purpose in a much darker scheme. Ultimately, Natasha knows that love can be a cure...
When their homes in rural Jamaica become unsafe, a queer teen and his cousin dare to confide in their aunt.
An inspirational actress who visits a sacred place in an unexplored region: Ai Yoshizaki is accompanied by a priest (exoscist) Yuji Kiba, a psychic researcher. Together, they challenge an evil spirit exorcism.
2000 horror original video.
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.
A portrait of a group of young inmates at the General Penitentiary in Kingston, Jamaica, who participate in a rehabilitation program through music. Through the songs and testimonies of the inmates, Songs of Redemption reveals the causes that led these young musicians to prison while portraying the harshness of life in the ghettos of Kingston. Songs of Redemption features fascinating interviews with the prisoners (incarcerated for crimes ranging from illegal possession of firearms to murder) and a powerful reggae soundtrack created, performed, and produced by inmates and guards.
Man Free takes a look into the lives of everyday people in the beautiful country of Jamaica. Told through the people themselves, the film takes a glimpse into the lives of young and old as they fight politics, crime, drugs and more. From the colorful and spirited taxi driver called Master Blaster to the young woman in her twenties running her own bakery, Man Free sheds a light on real life in Jamaica. It's not all reggae and good times. It's a land full of conflict and struggle and a yearning for a better life. But through all the hardships, you come to realize Jamaicans are truly people of grace.
Roots Time is the story of "Jah Bull" and "Baboo", two Rastafarians that sell LP records in an old colorful car field for the villages within Jamaica. By chance "Farmer Roots," his favorite radio host makes them finger in an emergency by carrying his sick girlfriend to a hospital. "Jah Bull" and "Baboo" by their Rastafarian principles, do not believe in traditional medicine and convince "Farmer Roots" to take his sick girlfriend to a known herbal doctor called Bongo Hu. Getting to the herbal doctor is much more difficult than they expected and all kinds of adventures happen along the way
This is the 1983 edition of Jamaica’s annual Reggae Sunsplash in Montego Bay, a week-long showcase for some of the greatest names in reggae, ska, funk and dub poetry.
Experimental short by Tetsuo Furudate.
A young man in Jamaica battles with taking matters into his own hands when seeking justice for the murder of his mother.
Experimental short by Takashi Nakajima.
The Xerox photocopies of the source material were reproduced through approximately five generations. Through two vectors movement through space and movement across generations of copies the work attempts to expose what exists between the image and ourselves. The original motivation behind the piece was the desire to create a perspective-shifting photographic animation using Xerox copies. However, during the production process, the theme gradually shifted toward depicting “something invisible between the subject and the object.”
A young boy struggles with his widowed mother's decision to relocate the family from Jamaica to Canada.
Sixteen year old fashion prodigy Malik struggles to find his direction and overcome an abusive community in order to fully embrace his talent and identity despite his homophobic community automatically labeling him as gay.
This is Ska is a Hi-Energy documentary on JAMAICAN dance music from 1964
Reality begins to unravel for Hyacinth when a woman claiming to be her daughter arrives at her doorstep on her wedding anniversary.
Experimental short by Jun Miyazaki.
Cymbal (Mykal Fax) and his friends Job (Steve McAlpin), Tubby (Shawn Cummings) and Rupert (Narada Campbell) live by the gun until they take on more drama than they can manage.
Experimental video installation by Kazuhiro Goshima.
12-year-old Rainbow, who’s left in the care of her grandparents in the Jamaican countryside. Feeling lonely and abandoned, she summons a hostile spirit in order to get back at her strict religious grandmother, unknowingly forming an unbreakable pact with a shapeshifting demon.
Burnt Milk centers around a monologue by Una (voiced by Tamara Lawrance), an isolated Jamaican woman in London around 1985. As she takes a moment of solace to make Burnt Milk, she is flooded with spiritual imagery that takes her home.
Bodies of water are intervened upon, moved, disrupted and exploited. Labouring bodies experience similar pressures from the same forces of power and extraction. Distant communities – Northern England and Jamaica – share similar histories of manipulation and oppression whose record is kept in the living memory of its waterways. But water, like people, can find a way to exert its own will.
A young black Jamaican girl from the underclass on the brink of womanhood works at a resort to support her large family. She faces a crisis of conscience when a tourist couple seems to be the answer to her financial predicament.
Dean is suffering the pains of adolescence at a rough Kingston high school. When his class gets a weekend assignment to read Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Dean envisages himself as Romeo and feisty student Erica, the object of his unrequited love, as rebel Juliet.
Documentary following a Swedish non-profit organization on their study trip to Jamaica. One of the first films by Kristian Petri and a unique document on Jamaican society around 1980.
In the wake of Hurricane Ivan, a prodigal son returns to his Jamaican community bearing strange revelations: he is the 'chosen one', a great flood is coming, and God has instructed him to––among other things––capture a hawk. Or was it to build an ark? Much to his father's chagrin, this spiritual mission has jeopardised the family's prospect of becoming respected and influential in the community.
Norman, a doting father raising four daughters with his loving wife in New Jersey, carries an unresolved pain—as a child, he witnessed the brutal murder of his mother. Now, 30 years later, Norman travels to Jamaica to confront the murderer: his own father.
Jamaica For Sale is a powerful documentary about the economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism and unsustainable development in Jamaica. Though the Caribbean receives about five percent of the global tourist trade, it is the region most economically dependent on tourism. Heavily promoted since 1891 as the way to modernization and prosperity, tourism has tragically failed in its promises, as Jamaica is one of the most indebted countries in the world and the third poorest country in the Caribbean. Lively, hard hitting, with powerful voices, arresting visuals and iconic music, Jamaica For Sale documents the environmental, economic, social and cultural impacts of unsustainable tourism development.
Written and directed by Nile Saulter and based on a concept by Shamar Watt, Summon follows Suno, a young dancer torn between his Jamaican roots and life in Miami, USA. The story intricately weaves together past and present, as Suno grapples with questions of identity and belonging.
Based on Jamaican folklore and the story of Rolling Calf - a supernatural being that is part calf and part man, with eyes of fire, that drags a fiery chain and preys on people walking alone on dark Jamaican country roads at night.
Trench Town, Jamaica, is the most famous ghetto in the World. Immortalised by Bob Marley it is now one of the most dangerous places on the planet. This film examines how the people survive in such extreme circumstances. It is a moving testimony to the silent majority of people who live there.
Newly-married Aria Sawyer is a charismatic and attractive young woman who is after one thing – a seat in Parliament – and she gets it. However, the sweet taste of victory quickly grows sour when her power-hungry husband, Dimitri, finds out about her on-and-off affair with Janelle Rose, a spunky female journalist. He offers a trade: his silence for her seat in Parliament.
A short documentary film about a frail non binary child, already traumatized by a Christian mother and Rastafarian father, who is abducted and raped. The film recounts these horrific experiences and follows the revelations of growth, fellowship and healing.
A Jamaican boy sets out on a dream, ten times his size, to fly to the moon, despite his circumstances and opposition from his father.
Dexter’s life falls apart after a false theft accusation costs him his job. Desperate, he starts a taxi business, unknowingly picking up David—a man unraveling after his girlfriend leaves him. As David spirals into crime, Dexter is pulled into a deadly web, while detectives race to uncover the truth.
Anansi the Spider must outsmart the biggest, most dangerous animals in the jungle… Or be eaten himself!
A boy gifted with the foresight of murder is tasked with the responsibilities of a local hero but struggles to find peace in a world of corruption and deceit.
Out of Many explores the pervasive social disparity in Kingston, Jamaica from the perspective of a teenage girl. Asha is the daughter of a politician and enjoys a life far removed from a harsh reality that many Jamaicans face. Her bubble of privilege pops when she sees the dead body of a street cleaner. Asha’s world view begins to unwind as she is thrusted into deep introspection.
A fictional short film that uses the horror genre to explore the subjects of ancestral trauma, dispossession, and the power of return/retrieval.
A family convenes exactly 500 years after Charles V grants permission to Lorenzo de Gorrevod ‘to import 4000 Africans into New Spain’. The King’s act marks the escalation of a rupture, with its origins in 1492, that remakes the world and reverberates into the present. This apparent “start of slavery” becomes an occasion to tell the story of one family’s implication across time and space. In nobody’s word Taylor digitises and disintegrates the family archive in order to reframe accounts, destabilise claims and inhabit spaces between fact and fiction, questioning the narrative impulses that inform the stories we tell.
Report on the 1987 edition of FESPACO
A retelling of the story of Queen Nanny, national heroine of Jamaica, in keeping with her broader significant real and symbolic roles as a shaman of the forests, healer, priestess and protector of the springs and watersheds, and commander of energies of the earth, creatures, mountains and valleys of the Blue and John Crow Mountains of Jamaica.