You can help these two German filmmakers get their film finished.
Check out the video and info below…
For the past five years German film directors Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer have been working on the movie ‘Journey to Jah’ – a picture that tries to show reggae as an intriguing construct of music, politics and spirituality.
They have followed Gentleman and Alborosie as they try to bridge the gap between cultures. They have also talked to artists such as Luciano, the late Gregory Isaacs and Lutan Fyah as well as followed the young, ambitious Terry Lynn around in Waterhouse, one of the numerous ghettos in Kingston.
He was a giant of the Jamaican sound system, hiding in plain sight. Hear him tell his story in the video below…
Cyril ‘Count C’ Braithwaite (1926-2011) was an original Jamaican sound system success story. From his yard at 6 Wellington Street in West Kingston, Jamaica Count C helped to shape modern pop culture and personally mentored more than a few international music careers. A contemporary of Tom the Great Sebastian and a rival to Duke Reid, Count C was a trendsetter and tastemaker before dancehall, reggae, rocksteady or ska. Little known outside of West Kingston… inside he was the Wizard of the West.
Read more on Count C in the latest issue of Wax Poetics.
Set to release later this year, Ghett’a Life explores the harsh realities of urban Jamaican life.
Check out the film’s trailer below…
GHETT’A LIFE is an “against the odds” action drama set in a politically turbulent inner city community of Kingston. Derrick, a determined inner city teenager realizes his dream of becoming a champion boxer despite a country, community and family conflicted by divisive political system.
Derrick dreams of being Jamaica’s next world light weight boxing champion. He knew from an early age that he had the ability to out box even the bigger boys on his lane but it’s election year and politics divide the country and Derrick’s community. His father, a loyal party supporter, forbids Derrick from going to the boxing gym, as to do so he has to cross party lines.
Derrick defiantly follows his heart and is confronted with the serious repercussions of his decision. The don of Derrick’s community, Sin, is set on keeping him from crossing over to the “other side” even if it means destroying Derrick’s dream and Derrick’s father is so blinded by political tribalism that he sees Derrick’s actions as betrayal. On the “other side” , at the gym, is a coach who becomes Derrick’s mentor and someone who shows him that Jamaica is bigger than just one community and that Derrick’s dreams are worth fighting for.
Derrick’s journey of discovery takes the audience through his coming of age and the realisation that anything that divides cannot be good for anyone. The ignorance of divisiveness gives way to the triumph that comes with unity.
GHETT’A LIFE is a wholly Jamaican film with all investors, cast and crew being committed to an authentic depiction of what life is and what life can be in the inner city of Kingston. This film with it’s positive message of overcoming adversity and ignorance will inspire audiences at home and abroad.
We’ve touched on the burgeoning skateboard scene in Jamaica a few timesbefore on this site, but it’s never a bad time to get a different perspective on things.
Check out a glimpse of what may be the future of Jamaican sport below, via the Krash Test Dummies and 45shootout…
The folks at LargeUp have posted a great feature with Belizian artist Hubert Neal, Jr. discussing his 26-piece show The Dudus Chronicles which is currently showing at the Grosvenor Galleries in Kingston, JA. Check out the details below…
When Belizean artist Hubert Neal, Jr. arrived in Kingston, Jamaica on May 20, 2010 to start a residency at Melinda Brown’s Roktowa studio, he had plans to paint Jamaica. Three days later, the military and police invaded Tivoli Gardens in hot pursuit of Christopher “Dudus” Coke, a man who had been, for months, wanted for extradition by the United States of America. The hunt for Coke and its accompanying media coverage was impossible to ignore, and Neal began to paint. The results of this process was a series of twenty-six works titled The Dudus Chronicles, on display now at the Grosvenor Galleries in Kingston. It’s colorful and varied–but also quite disturbing, never shying away from depicting the violence that accompanied the search for Dudus. Largeup caught up with Neal during his last few days in Jamaica to talk about his process, his work, and his position as an outsider looking in.
With 76 people dead from the violence, Jamaican forces plan to resume the manhunt for Christopher Coke on Monday. If you ask me they will need to start searching neighboring islands. Here is CNN’s coverage on the events
On Friday, the US State department issued a travel warning to Jamaica because of violence that broke out in and around Kingston. Christopher “Dudus” Coke, the alleged drug kingpin is to be extradited to the US on drug conspiracy charges and that has sparked attacks on police stations in Kingston, barricading of roads and a near military state. CNN has some coverage on the emergency there.
Drake shot the “Find Your Love” video in Kingston, Jamaica and got the help of Mavado who plays a gangster in the forbidden love story. I thought Drake was an actor? Not the most convincing role from Drake but in any case here is the video. And if the patios was too much, check this for a translation.
A glimpse into everyday Caribbean life, via GOOD.is. Check out the details below…
In 2008 and in 2009, the photographer Caroll Taveras ventured to Jamaica on two assignments, one for Culture and Travel and another for The Guardian. For the former, her work focused on the development of downtown Kingston, specifically as related to a youth art and cultural center known as the Rock Tower and the distinction between the areas of the city that are considered safe (uptown) and unsafe (downtown). After completing the assignment, Taveras developed a deep attachment for the area, and during her time there (and on her next assignment) Taveras felt compelled to keep taking photographs.
“When you get sent out on an assignment, even great assignments, you’re following a checklist,” she says. “But I always try to do something for myself. After I cover the ground I have to cover, I look for a few other things. Of course, music is such a big thing in Jamaica, and I, personally, was obsessed with dancehall girls.”
What follows is a selection of photographs from Kingston, Jamaica, through the lens of Caroll Taveras. This is a Jamaica you might not see in tourist brochures, and it’s all the more beautiful for it.
Chali 2na recently shot a video in Kingston, Jamaica with Beenie Man, for “International”, its the second video shot from Chali 2na’s album Fish Outta Water.
