It is very rare for a British comedian to be given a concert film all to themself but in 1989 Lenny Henry was given that honour. We start off with him been driven to the concert by Robbie Coltrane as the sort of taxi driver you don't want to get a lift from. Once inside he meets three of his comic heroes - Steve Martin, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy (all played by Lenny) and then it's on with the stage show. He mixes stand up with appearances from some of his best known characters and there are a few amusing songs along the way.
Episodes about different stages of relationships: from flirtation to falling out of love.
After being discharged from the Army, Brian Flanagan moves back to Queens and takes a job in a bar run by Doug Coughlin, who teaches Brian the fine art of bar-tending. Brian quickly becomes a patron favorite with his flashy drink-mixing style, and Brian adopts his mentor's cynical philosophy on life and goes for the money.
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.
When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games, he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican bobsled team.
At a Jamaican beach hotel, super-slick waiter and self-professed "stud" Ringo works the angles (and there are many) on the ever-presents knots of unsuspecting, trusting tourists. Hey, all's fair in love and business … especially when you're continuously on the hustle, like Ringo.
A story about the adventures of a newly engaged couple in their relatives residence outside Nigeria, and how the secrets of their host led to the eventual breakup of their union amidst the culture shock of the new country and living with upper-class citizens.
Through good times and bad, Stella and Delilah have always had each other. Now, Stella's so busy building a life that she's forgotten how to really live. But Delilah is about to change all that. What starts as a quick trip to Jamaica, ends as an exhilarating voyage of self discovery as Stella learns to open her heart and find love – even if it's with a man 20 years her junior.
The My Scene girls head to Jamaica after winning a band contest.
At the roots of reggae, in Jamaica, close-up on the group Third World. Portraits of the musicians in their daily lives and the cultural context from which they draw their artistic inspiration.
Jamaica, 1973. When a young boy witnesses his brother’s assassination, a powerful Don gives him a home. But 10 years later, when he’s sent to London, his past catches up to him.
Based on footage shot in the early seventies and lost for more than thirty years, we see and hear the young Bob Marley before he was famous. The film shows us the Wailers' first rehearsal, when the idea of a Jamaican supergroup was still just a dream. Sit in as the albums of Bob Marley and the Wailers brought reggae music and Rasta consciousness to the world, starting a revolution that would change rock music and contemporary culture.
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.
30 years after Bob Marley's death Jamaica continues to be on top of the world-wide music scene. Reggae has evolved into a new genre, Dancehall.
A detective's life unravels when a manipulative housekeeper and a failing marriage derail a murder probe, forcing her to save her family.
He was and is, without doubt, Jamaica's finest export and in this programme we can reveal for the first time the behind the scenes Bob Marley that only his closest confidantes could know. To understand more about this iconic Jamaican his long time girlfriend and Oscar nominated actress Esther Anderson describes in some detail along with exclusive unpublished home video footage, their life together at home in Jamaica and of their time spent in Hope Road, London. Of all the people who considered themselves closest to him, Esther was probably the person who knew more about the man's innermost thoughts and fears than any; so much was she in tune with him she even helped to write some of his hit records. Also featured is the last interview he would ever give in the UK when journalist Kris Needs questions him about his foot injury (the injury that would eventually kill him) plus many other topics about which Marley held strong views.
Documentary about reggae in Jamaica and its history. Filmed in 1979.
"Standard Bearer" chronicles the recording of Swedish rapper Promoe's album "White Mans Burden". It features studio recordings from the making of the album in Kingston, Jamaica and Malmö Sweden. The documentary contains guest apperances by Capleton, Assasin, DaVille, Fantan Mojah, Lady Saw, Leeroy from Saïan Supa Crew and a flashback from the making of Looptroop's "Hurricane George" with Timbuktu, Chords and the DVSG family in 2004.
In 1747, a handsome but rebellious Scotsman named Richard Abdee is auctioned off as a slave on a Caribbean island controlled by French and British sugar-planters. When caught having sex with his owner's wife, Abdee is given 100 lashes with the dreaded "dragonard" whip. This sentence is meant to be fatal but Abdee survives and later joins in a slave revolt which puts an end to the island's era of savage whippings.
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.