Event

"Hit Me With Music" [Keeling's Caribbean Showcase]

One more screening of the documentary 'Hit Me With Music' telling the story of Jamaican dancehall on January 29th - followed by a Q&A with director Miquel Galofre!

- focusing equally on dance and music, as well as the larger context of Jamaican contemporary life. With Yellowman, Mavado, Kartel, Bogle, Elephantman, Chi chi ching, and more. Trinidad & Tobago film festival best documentary Jury and People's prize winner! Sunday, January 8th, 22nd, 29th at 7:30pm

Hit Me With Music
Miquel Galofre, 2011, 74 min.
'One good thing about music; when it hits you, you feel no pain. Hit me with music, hit me with music now.' - Bob Marley, Trenchtown Rock.

30 years after Bob Marley's death Jamaica continues to be on top of the world-wide music scene. Reggae has evolved to produce a new genre, Dancehall. Hit Me With Music is the first comprehensive documentary about the Jamaican dancehall scene, giving dance, style and fashion an equal treatment to its music. Through the protagonists of this documentary we get to know Dancehall and what it is about. A diverse group of individuals - dancers, dj's, producers, artists, school children and ghetto youth talk of the context in which these songs are born and what the phenomena represents in their life and the lives of many supporters. The film doesn't shy away from the problematic aspects of dancehall culture and nightlife - violent lyrics, the Gully Gaza clash between supporters of Vybz Kartel and Mavado, the controversial subject of "Daggering", the exploitation of women in the Go-Go, and the reasons why people bleach their skin, are all explored in this documentary. The film remains open about the issues without coming to a didactic conclusion, inviting enjoyment and discussion.

Part of the monthly Maysles Cinema series 'Keeling's Caribbean Showcase', curated by Keeling Beckford of Keeling's Reggae Music and Videos.