Directed by Franco Rosso • 1980 • United Kingdom, Italy
Starring Brinsley Forde, David N. Haynes, Trevor Laird
A long-lost reggae classic reemerges. Suppressed following its Cannes premiere for fear that it would stoke racial tension, Franco Rosso’s incendiary portrait of sound-system culture in 1980s South London follows a young dancehall DJ (Brinsley Forde, frontman of landmark British reggae group Aswad) as he pursues his musical ambitions, battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbors, police, and the National Front. Featuring beautifully smoky cinematography and a blistering soundtrack, BABYLON is a raw, fearless howl of defiance tempered by the hazy bliss of the dancehall.
Directed by Bill Gunn • 1980 • United States
Starring Vertamae Grosvenor, Walter Cotton, Jim Wright
Bill Gunn’s follow-up to his underground landmark GANJA & HESS was the result of an extraordinary collaboration with renowned writer Ishmael Reed, who described the project as a “meta–soap ope...
Directed by Bill Gunn • 1980 • United States
Starring Vertamae Grosvenor, Walter Cotton, Jim Wright
Bill Gunn’s follow-up to his underground landmark GANJA & HESS was the result of an extraordinary collaboration with renowned writer Ishmael Reed, who described the project as a “meta–soap ope...
Directed by Kathleen Collins • 1982 • United States
Starring Seret Scott, Bill Gunn, Duane Jones
One of the first feature films directed by an African American woman, Kathleen Collins’s LOSING GROUND tells the story of a marriage between two remarkable people, both at a crossroads in their lives...
