'The Harder They Come,' Lee 'Scratch' Perry doc & more streaming on Criterion Channel reggae film series
The Criterion Channel will be celebrating reggae culture in February with Roots & Revolution: Reggae on Film, featuring 11 features and documentaries.
The series includes 1972 classic The Harder They Come which stars Jimmy Cliff who also contributed to it’s equally classic soundtrack; 1978’s Rockers whose cast includes Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth, Dillinger, and Jacob Miller; and 1980’s Babylon which was partially based on Dennis Bovell‘s experiences running a Jamaican soundsystem in England the ’70s (he provides the film’s score as well) and stars Aswad‘s Brinsley Forde, Mikey Dread and more.
Roots & Revolution: Reggae on Film will also feature the streaming debut of documentary The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry, and other films include Menelik Shabazz’s 2011 documentary The Story of Lovers Rock, and Elmina Davis’ 1988 documentary Omega Rising Women of Rastafari.
Check out the full Roots & Revolution: Reggae on Film lineup and watch trailers for The Harder They Come, Rockers, Babylon and the Lovers Rock and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry documentaries, below.
The Harder They Come soundtrack made our list of 64 Essential Ska Albums.
Roots & Revolution: Reggae on Film:
The Harder They Come, Perry Henzell, 1972
Blacks Britannica, David Koff, 1978
Rockers, Theodoros Bafaloukos, 1978
Babylon, Franco Rosso, 1980
Omega Rising Women of Rastafari, D. Elmina Davis, 1988
A Reggae Session, Stephanie Bennett and Thomas Adelman, 1988
We the Ragamuffin, Julian Henriques, 1992
Babymother, Julian Henriques, 1998
No Place Like Home, Perry Henzell, 2006
The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry, Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough, 2008
The Story of Lovers Rock, Menelik Shabazz, 2011
