Toppa Top 10: Top Caribbean Culture Documentaries

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.

10. Holding Onto Jah (2009)

Holding On To Jah makes this list for two reasons, at the very least. Consolidating and clarifying information about the mysterious Rastafarian movement, it’s a necessary point of reference in this age of rent-a-rastas, beauty-salon dreads and fools fraudulently (if innocently) running around town chanting Rastafari without knowing the half. And then there is the intimate appearance of the late and very great reggae/dancehall pioneer Sugar Minott, an artist whose passing we’re still coming to grips with. In Holding On To Jah, Minott explains in detail why holding onto his faith helped him get through life’s continuous ups and downs.

9. Mas Man (2010)

This New York Film Festival-winning short from Trinidad’s Dalton Narine is a truly eye-opening look at that cornerstone of Caribbean life, Carnival, that succeeds because the act of playing Mas is treated not so much as a social phenomenon as a proper artform. And,  in the person of the film’s subject, Peter Minshall, it’s one that inspires on the world stage as well as the local parade ground.

8. Dub Echoes (2008)

Brazilian director Bruno Natal’s Dub Echoes is a great little introduction to this pivotal genre for the uninitiated. It employs an international scope, successfully outlining the development of yard-style dub and it’s UK spin-off in general terms. Don’t expect any sweeping cinematography here, as this movie appears to have been done on a tight budget. Instead, cool points come from the movie’s approach. You get a front seat to the entire experience by hearing fans like Howie B gush about the style, then pioneers like Sly and Robbie and Bunny “Striker” Lee chime in to make it all relevant. Spring reverb, anyone??!

7. Ghosts of Cité Soleil (2006)

This somewhat exploitational yet gripping film, about two brothers who find themselves leading rival Port-au-Prince gangs amid the violent aftermath of Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s ouster from Haiti, is not about culture per se. But in providing a rare glimpse into Haiti’s most dangerous slum and the politician-enabled armed gangs known as “chimères,” Danish director Asger Leth also documents the artistic desires of his antihero, “2Pac.” The most charismatic of the two brothers, he hopes to leave Haiti to become a rapper, and even gains an audience with Wyclef Jean, who became one of the film’s producers after learning of 2Pac’s story.

6.  Yank Tanks: Carros Classicos De Cuba (2002)

US director David Schendel’s doc shines a light on the vibrant classic car culture in Cuba, where an astounding number of American vehicles from the ’40s and ’50s are still on the road. Through interviews with owners, admirers and the resourceful mechanics whose ingenuity helps keep the cars running despite a lack of replacement parts, Schendel illustrates how these classic American machiens are some of the last remaining and most important vestiges of life just before the Revolution, and one of few ways to display individuality in a highly regulated Communist state. Watch the whole thing above.

5. From Mambo to Hiphop (2006)

Subtitled “A South Bronx Tale,” From Mambo To Hiphop is much more, a rich story about the migration of culture from the islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba to those of New York City. Henry Chalfant, the man behind original hip-hop doc Style Wars lays out the ontributions Latin folks made to Bronx-birthed Hip Hop culture like a game of dominoes. You quickly discover where the original B-Boys like Crazy Legs and them learned their moves (let’s just say the nightclub ain’t nothing new). Just the same there are some awesome, rare performances by Tito Puente and some of the early salsa bands. Watch the preview here and catch the whole thing, in seven parts, on YouTube. And for an even more seminal look at Nuyorican music culture (though more of a concert film than a proper documentary), check 1972’s Fania Records-produced Our Latin Thing, also viewable on YouTube in its entirety.

4. Reggae Britannia (2011)

One of the many great things about this BBC-produced film–besides concentrating heaps of classic footage into one pleasurably-consumed dish–is the fact that by talking about both white and black UK music scenes in the same film, it avoids the pseudo-anthropological feel of many docs made in the first world about Caribbean culture. And, more importantly, it highlights the impact West Indian music has had on the world at large.

3. Roots Rock Reggae (1977)

This film has, hands down, some of the most crucial footage of reggae and dub in the 70s you’ll ever see, from early Toots and Jimmy Cliff clips to obscure artists auditioning for producer Jack Ruby. And the scenes of Lee “Scratch” Perry at his Black Ark Studio with the Heptones and members of the Congos are as good as good as it gets. Other highlights include live sessions with the Abyssinians, Ras Michael, and the Gladiators voicing tunes with spliffs that would put Cheech and Chong to shame. Watch part one above and find the rest of this oft-overlooked film here.

2. Land of Look Behind (1982)

The eerie intro scene of a Rasta extracting lizards out of a lush, green plant lets you know right from jump that this film, directed by Alan Greenberg, an American friend of Bob Marley’s (and a disciple of Werner Herzog),  is no cookie-cutter music doc. There’s also some incredible footage of Gregory Isaacs in the office of his African Museum record label when he was ‘”strictly dealing with Rastafari,” and a local’s account of what happens to people in Jamaica’s remote Cockpit Country area. In spite of the borderline offensive title, it’s well worth the watch. Start part 1 here and head to Youtube for the rest.

1. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

The ultimate example of a film that made history as well as recording it, Ry Cooder’s semi-Quixotic mission to track down musicians from the fictional Buena Vista Social Club (with German director Wim Wenders of Paris, Texas fame in tow) is not only a giant of a movie but it resulted in one of the great albums of the ’90s and an unlikely crossover success for authentic Cuban roots music. The whole damn thing is watchable on YouTube. Get a sample above and then proceed here.