SOUND + IMAGE: MUSIC IN FILM

Un noto negozio di dischi londinese organizza ogni estate una rassegna di documentari musicali d'autore. Sei appuntamenti settimanali conditi da djset tematici e introduzioni speciali. Si, nella forma molto simile al nostro Across The Movies, con particolare attenzione al blues e ai ritmi afroamericani. Non stiamo a perdeci troppo nei particolari, altrimenti ci mettiamo una settimana. Fatto sta che gli inglesi in questo sono idoli assoluti e se sull'isola si vendono ancora i dischi un motivo ci sarà. Spulciando, su sei, ne ho trovati tre.

Completi.
Wow.

BABYLON (1980)

directed by Frank Rosso

Cult classic British reggae film! A compelling story of racism,violence and bigotry suffered everyday by black Britains in 1970s London, told as a thriller with a heavy reggae soundtrack! Babylon was filmed on the streets of Deptford and Brixton.The story centres on sound system culture and themes of police racism, violence against blacks, poverty and disillusion with lack of opportunities. Dennis Bovell made the classic soundtrack.There is also music by Yabby You, Azwad, Michael Prophet and I Roy.

NOTHING BUT A MAN (1964)
directed by Michael Roemer

Malcolm X’s favourite film.Wicked early 60s film made in the USA with an all Motown soundtrack – one of the first black dramas made in the USA. Reflecting the era of the civil rights movement during the early 1960s, the story, set in Alabama, follows the trails of worker Duff Trying to settle down to life in the town, Duff soon comes face-to-face with the ingrained racial hostility of his bosses, and is forced to come to terms with the lack of respect and dignity afforded him by the town’s population. The original soundtrack features Motown stars Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, The Vandellas, The Miracles and The Marvelettes.

THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975 (2011)
directed by Goran Olsson

Swedish documentary director Goran Olsson compliled this feature-length collection of archive footage chronicling the US Black Power movement, originally shot by a group of Swedish television journalists during the 1960s and ’70s. Despite its geographical and cultural distance, the Swedish media observed the unfolding events of the Black Power movement in the United States with avid interest which was arguably more than the mainstream media in the United States itself. Fascinating.

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (part 1) from antifalab on Vimeo.