rastamentary

Black Mother

November 2018 •English

Part film, part baptism, in BLACK MOTHER director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual journey through Jamaica. Soaking up its bustling metropolises and tranquil countryside, Allah introduces us to a succession of vividly rendered souls who call this island home. Their candid testimonies create a polyphonic symphony, set against a visual prayer of indelible portraiture. Thoroughly immersed between the sacred and profane, BLACK MOTHER channels rebellion and reverence into a deeply personal ode informed by Jamaica’s turbulent history but existing in the urgent present.

Born in-a Babylon

May 2000 •English

A portrait of Rastafarians living in Tottenham at the start of the new millennium.

The Journey of the Lion

October 1992 •English

Brother Howie is a Jamaican Rastifari who dreams of the land of his ancestors: Africa. On a journey in search of his roots and his identity he travels through three continents and (with great humor and sensitivity) discovers the world and Africa.

Made in Jamaica

September 2006 •English

A powerful portrait of the leaders of the reggae music Movement, and how Reggae has become a worldwide phenomenon. The film showcases performances by the best Reggae and Dance Hall artists ever assembled. From their native ghetto to international fame, "Made in Jamaica" is the story of the artists who represent the Jamaican Dream.

Dread

July 1996 •English

An East Coast community in Ruatōria, New Zealand attempts to live in autarchy according to the tenets of their movement. Bob Marley, a prophet of our electronic age, is the soundtrack to the everyday lives of these Māori who feel closer to their own roots by observing a blend of Afro-Carribean Rastafarianism and the Ringatū faith. Merata Mita's camera respectfully portrays this singular cultural dialogue. The outsider cultures of Jamaicans, Ethiopians and Māori have come together, vibrating to a common cosmic chord. They find an underground brotherhood, across continents and seas.

3211

September 2023 •Serbian

The film 3211 is a true story about Stefan Đurić, a successful musician who one day loses everything and goes to prison, where only his songs remain from his former life.

The First Rasta

April 2011 •French

Going far beyond the standard imagery of Rasta—ganja, reggae, and dreadlocks—this cultural history offers an uncensored vision of a movement with complex roots and the exceptional journey of a man who taught an enslaved people how to be proud and impose their culture on the world. In the 1920s Leonard Percival Howell and the First Rastas had a revelation concerning the divinity of Haile Selassie, king of Ethiopia, that established the vision for the most popular mystical movement of the 20th century, Rastafarianism. Although jailed, ridiculed, and treated as insane, Howell, also known as the Gong, established a Rasta community of 4,500 members, the first agro-industrial enterprise devoted to producing marijuana. In the late 1950s the community was dispersed, disseminating Rasta teachings throughout the ghettos of the island. A young singer named Bob Marley adopted Howell's message, and through Marley's visions, reggae made its explosion in the music world.

High Landz

Invalid date •English

High up in the Northern California mountains there is a place, where not too many get to visit. Its called - The Emerald Triangle, real mecca of Americas cannabis game. Follow a ukrainian journalist Luka on a journey that explores lifes of real growers and hustlers and the dangers that come with it.

I and I

May 2020 •French

Reggae Music

January 1981 •English

Documentary about reggae in Jamaica and its history. Filmed in 1979.

Rockers

November 1979 •English

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.

One Love

May 2003 •English

Kassa a free-wheelin rasta man, falls for a straight laced gospel singer Serena, when they both meet as they enter a music contest. Serena's father the pastor forbids her to see him and wants her to marry one of his church members. Meanwhile the record boss organizing the contest, tries to get Kassa's band to sign to his label on his terms not theirs. By using heavy tactics, he pushes the band to fight back.

Family Portrait

January 2007 •Romanian

Two rockers are getting married.They don't want wear proper suits and shoes at the wedding. Their family and friends are talking about different aspects in organizing the wedding. Everybody seems to know whats best for them.

Bob Marley: One Love

February 2024 •English

Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley overcomes adversity to become the most famous reggae musician in the world.

Bob Marley: The Legend Live

October 1981 •English

Recorded in California at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, this live concert appearance from Bob Marley and the Wailers was filmed on November 25, 1979. One of the last shows to be recorded before Marley's untimely demise, the gig is a scintillating mix of reggae classics and provides a fitting epitaph to the influential musician. Tracks include "I Shot the Sheriff," "Exodus," "Is This Love" and many more.

Roots Time

November 2006 •English

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

Chemin Vert

June 2024 •English

Three teenage boys, curious about the effects of cannabis, encounter an unusual dealer. The story follows them as they consume drugs for the first time, leading to a transformation that alters their friendship forever.

Messiah from Montreal

October 2001 •English

Documentary on Jewish Canadian poet A.M. Klein and his influence on Canadian poetry.

The White Maiden

May 1991 •Russian

A drinking play with cannons and fireworks.

The Singing Ape, Gibbon

October 2017 •Korean

Humans belong to a group called anthropoids. Gibbons have the most human-like traits among the anthropoids. Gibbons are the only apes capable to sing like humans and communicate through their songs. This film documents an unprecedented attempt to investigate the musicality of multiple species of wild gibbons - siamang, the white-handed gibbon and the javan gibbon - surviving in the South-East Asians habitats. The story of endangered Asian Ape unfolds in this documentary with their songs in various situations.