Don’t miss “Rise Up: Stories of Jamaican Underground Music” on April 2 at St. John School of the Arts.
The St. John Film Society will screen two films on Tuesday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. at St. John School of the Arts.
As part of the 4th Annual Traveling Caribbean Film Showcase, SJFS continues the festival with two films from Jamaica and Haiti.
“Rise Up: Stories of Jamaican Underground Music,” follows the rise of three music artists — Turbulence, Kemoy, and Ice Anastacia — from the back alleys and crowded dancehalls of Kingston, to its privileged suburbs, to rural Jamaica.
The 88-min award-winning documentary by Luciano Blotta (2009) features appearances and performances by legendary artists such as Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, and Lee “Scratch” Perry.
SJFS will also screen “Brooklyn Racine” on April 2, which tells the story of what happens when a group of young Haitian immigrants take the enduring legacy of Rara — voodoo-inspired walking music — from the hills of Haiti to the streets of Brooklyn, NY. The 12-minute documentary is by Jeremy Robins and Magaly Damas (2008).
The Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase is an annual film festival representing filmmakers, producers and directors from around the Caribbean. Sponsored regionally by UNESCO and supported by ICAIC (Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry ) in collaboration with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase brings together the works of 40 filmmakers from 15 Caribbean countries including the Bahamas, Venezuela, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Trinidad & Tobago. All films are subtitled when not in English.
This fourth edition, dedicated to the Caribbean Diaspora, includes films that reflect the troubles, the culture, and the history of the Caribbean. The films, which include feature length and short films, animation and documentaries, reveal the realities and challenges of Caribbean emigrants in the region and the greater Diaspora, and promote Caribbean cultural identity.
TCFS is supported by ICAIC, UNICEF, UNESCO and MINCULT. St. John Film Society is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Virgin Island Council on the Arts.