The next screening of this critically acclaimed movie is in Los Angeles (LA), California this Saturday, February 11 at the Pan African Film Festival. It is the first of 3 screenings in LA. Check out the flyer below for show times & ticket information.

According to Kenny, “I was looking for projects to develop into feature films and this was perfect, so I got together with a writer friend of mine and we began discussing the possibilities,” … more here

Based on footage shot in the early 1970s and lost for more than thirty years, Esther Anderson’s lense takes us on a journey to the Caribbean islands, to Jamaica and into 56 Hope Road, Kingston, to see and hear the young Bob Marley before he was famous.

While exploring the powerful relationship between Esther and Marley, the film shows us the Wailers’ first rehearsal, when the idea of a Jamaican super-group like the Beatles or the Stones was still just a dream, and sits in on the launch of their international career with “Get up Stand up”, “I Shot the Sheriff”, and the “Burnin’” and “Catch a Fire” albums that brought to the world Reggae music and Rasta consciousness together as one, starting a revolution that would change rock music and contemporary culture.

Check out the preview below:

Two years before hitting the Jamaican cinemas in October 2010 for a six-week run, Better Mus’ Come debuted at the Flashpoint Film Festival in Port Royal, Kingston … That impact has been replicated at two festivals this year, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival where Better Mus’ Come took the Best Feature Film and Fan Favourite awards and the more recent Bahamas Film Festival, where it won the audience award for Best Narrative Feature … more here

The Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival has proven to be an important tool for marketing Jamaica throughout its 15-year history. The festival’s ability to do this was further augmented this year with the premier of the HBO documentary special One Love: Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, which widened the festival’s audience from the several thousand who attend annually to the over 300 million viewers of the cable network … more here

At the event, Jamaican animators were encouraged to take steps to increase the capacity and capabilities of the local industry and to explore opportunities in international film markets. This suggestion came from James Parris and Kirstin Solid, two award-winning animators, as part of discussions on Jamaica’s potential as a major animation outsourcing locale … more here

The film unfolds with Donisha’s personal odyssey to challenge the often cartoonish perception of Rastafarians, and her focus on putting the story and message of this movement into a personal and global perspective. In the film, Donisha visits Rastafari communities of all races in Israel, India, Jamaica, South Africa, Ethiopia, Canada and the United Kingdom. In these countries, she meets with men and women who have chosen a Rastafari lifestyle. She explores how the movement evolved in that particular place and ultimately hopes to find her purpose as a young Rasta woman.

The documentary features interviews with British/Jamaican writer and dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah, who is strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica, and what he calls “street politics”; Reggae artist and successful entrepreneur Ras Levi-Roots, a Rastafarian who stands for peace, love and harmony amongst all people; Bob Marley’s youngest son Damian Marley, wife Rita Marley; and Dr. Jake Homiak, curator of the exhibit Discovering Rastafari at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute.

Produced by Patricia Scarlett and Marilyn Gray, RasTa: A Soul’s Journey is a documentary that moves away from the more familiar images of Jamaica, towards the various ways in which the Rastafarian movement has gone beyond the tiny Caribbean Island. It reveals the ways in which the message of Rastafari has manifested itself in diverse cultures, how the tenants of Rastafari are rooted in history and how they are made relevant to contemporary issues. The film’s narrative unfolds as a voyage of discovery, driven by a woman’s intense desire to understand the past and make a clear meaning of the present.

RasTa: A Soul’s Journey was produced in partnership with Citytv.
For more information, please visit rastaonline.ca

Screening in Montreal:
Oct. 18 at Cinéma Odéon Quartier Latin at 3 p.m.
Oct. 20 at the Excentris (Parallèle) at 9.45 p.m.

Venues & Tickets: nouveaucinema.ca/box-office-info