World of Skinhead

Don Letts examines the history of this notorious subculture in a fascinating documentary, which features interviews with members of different skinhead scenes through the decades. Beginning in the late 1960s, Don fondly recalls a time of multiracial harmony as youngsters bonded over a love of ska, reggae and smart clothes as white working-class kids were attracted to Jamaican culture and adopted its music and fashions. But when far-right politics targeted skinheads in the 1970s and 1980s, an ugly intolerance emerged, and Don reveals how the once-harmonious subgroup has since struggled to shake this stigma.

Outlines the history of 40 years of the skinhead subculture, beginning with the most recent versions of the culture.

After being sent to a detention centre, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers who want to conform him to the status quo.

Bastien is twenty years old and has been an activist for five years in the main extreme right party. When the presidential campaign begins, he's invited by his superior to commit even further. Initiated into the art of decking himself out like a politician, he starts to dream of a career, but old demons surge forth...

Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Magazine, The Go-Go's, Toyah Willcox, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, X, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu, Steel Pulse, Surf Punks, 999, UB40, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Police. These were many of the most popular groups on the New Wave scene; in keeping with the spirit of the scene, the film also features several less famous acts, and one completely obscure group, Invisible Sex, in what appears to be their only public performance.

Donal MacIntyre investigates the secretive world of white power music and how the money made helps fund far right political organizations in many countries, including the British National Party in the UK. In this documentary, the crew gained access to the men and women behind one of the most disturbing musical movements. It reveals how British neo-Nazis and skinheads plan to launch 'Project School-Yard' in Britain after a similar scheme was tried out in the United States. In the UK, the team follows one of the most infamous British white-power bands, Whitelaw, as they prepare for one of the biggest gigs of their career. The band are filmed on stage, with riot police surrounding the venue, performing as the forces of law and order move in to shut down their hate-filled act. The film also contains shocking images of hate rock concerts in the USA where, thanks to the first amendment protecting freedom of speech, anything goes.

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.

Exploring how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, when a group of artists united to take on the National Front, armed only with a fanzine and a love of music.

A working-class family in London's East End is struggling to stay afloat during the recession under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Only the mother Mavis is working; father Frank and the couple's two sons Colin, a timid, chronically shy individual and Mark, an outspoken, headstrong young man, are on the dole. This situation is contrasted by the presence of Mavis's sister Barbara, and her husband John, whose financial and social loftiness appears to be a comfortable facade over the unspoken soreness of a lackluster marriage.

This feature length documentary charts the story of the great Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee. A legend himself, there’s not a lot of pioneers of roots and reggae that he didn’t work with, becoming the go-to producer for that dub sound coming out of Jamaica in the sixties and seventies, further cementing his legacy when he started licensing his productions straight to London labels. Diggory Kenrick’s doco calls on not only Lee himself to tell the story, but features the likes of U Roy, Dennis Alcapone, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sly and Robbie, Johnny Clarke and Johnny Holt among others.

In early 1960s Toronto, a white, Anglo-centric city, an underground music scene emerged from the Jamaican diaspora, led by newcomers like Jackie Mittoo, Wayne McGhie, and a young Jay Douglas. Battling racism and indifference, they left a lasting but underrecognized mark on Canadian music and culture. Nearly 60 years later, Jay Douglas still champions Jamaican music and is finally receiving long-overdue recognition. Play It Loud is a feature documentary that tells the little-known story of how Jamaican music became a vital, unlikely part of Canadian culture. It traces a cultural migration that made Canada a global hub for Jamaican music - celebrated abroad but overlooked at home. Told through the life and music of beloved singer Jay Douglas, born Clive Pinnock in rural Jamaica, the film follows his journey from teen performer to enduring icon.

The first American documentary about Traditional (Non-Racist) Skinheads. Focuses on the 'cross of cultures' that came together to form the Skinhead identity: The origins of the Skinhead scene in England, its roots in Jamaican Reggae and Ska (mid-'60s) to its revival and global impact with 2 Tone, Punk, Oi, and Hardcore (late '70s to present day). Features interviews and live concert footage by current bands across these various musical genres in the United States, England and Germany; discussing their viewpoints on Skinhead, its Working Class values, and its continuing relevance around the world.

“DISCIPLES” is a new Dazed film by Jess Kohl exploring the subcultural world of Malaysian skinheads including the traditional, SHARP skins, and Nazis.

Documentary on the London punk-rock scene, circa '78

An examination of a group of skinheads--white, mostly male youths involved in the neo-Nazi, white supremacist hate movement in the U.S.--and the older adults who brought them into, and try to keep them in, the movement in the first place.

'Roots Rock Reggae' depicts an unforgettable moment in Jamaica's history when music defined the island's struggles and immortalized its heroes. Director Jeremy Marre films Bob Marley and the Wailers, and Lee 'Scratch' Perry record in his legendary Black Ark studio with The Upsetters. Jimmy Cliff rehearses with Sly and Robbie, while Inner Circle's historic live gig is recorded on the violent Kingston streets. The legendary Abyssinians harmonize their haunting Rastafarian songs; Joe Higgs (formerly Bob Marley's teacher) plays and talks; majestic toaster U Roy raps alongside The Mighty Diamonds, and Third World record in a Kingston studio. There is also early archive footage of Toots and the Maytals, and Haile Selessie's royal visit to Jamaica while police and thieves battle it out on the streets, and the ghettos erupt in violence. 1977: An extraordinary year for Reggae music.

In the Moss Side, Manchester "race riots" of 1981 a struggling punk band are tempted by a sinister entrepreneur to perform at a major gig in support of British extreme Right political organizations.

Reggae documentary of the One Love Peace Concert held in Kingston, Jamaica in 1978. In addition to the music, this film features the return to Jamaica of Bob Marley after a 16-month hiatus following an attempt on his life.

They have raged on for forty years, cutting a swath across continents and lighting the fuse of revolutionary thought. From the pressure-cooker ghettos of England to the mighty gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, one band has forged an enduring legacy. This is their story.

Follows dub poet master Linton Kwesi Johnson out of the recording studio onto the Brixton streets.