Words by DJ Gravy, Eddie STATS Houghton, Martei Korley, Jason “J-RockaZ” Orford and Jesse Serwer
It seems like we’re hearing about another new documentary film training its lens on Caribbean culture every day now. In just the past few months on LargeUp, we’ve told you about brand-new or upcoming films on Lee Perry, the West Indian cricket teams of the 1970s and 1980s, two separate ones on Bob Marley (from Last King in Scotland director Kevin McDonald and one-time Bob flame Esther Anderson, respectively) as well as the Afro Latinos documentary series said to be heading to PBS. With this week’s Tribeca Film Festival hosting the U.S. premieres of the aforementioned cricket flick Fire In Babylon and When The Drum Is Beating, about Haiti’s long-running Septentrional band, (and that Lee Perry doc, Upsetter, touring US theaters), we figured it was time to revisit and count down some of the top Caribbean culture documentaries from the past.