Category Archives: press

“Babylon is the system that keeps us down” —Brinsley Forde of Aswad speaks on BABYLON the movie

Posted on by

39 years after the movie ‘Babylon’ was released in the UK, the independent film examining UK sound system culture and how it helped Caribbean youth facing racial tensions in British society finally premiered in the United States.

Following a special screening in New York City, Brinsley Forde the star of the film (also known as the lead singer of the legendary British reggae band Aswad) spoke with reggae journalist and film maker Reshma B about the movie’s impact then and now. Somehow it seems that little has changed 39 years later.

Boomshots tv

Recent Babylon press features + instagram!

Posted on by

The US premiere of the film has generated a bit of a buzz. Here are some good links I have picked up on amongst the less interesting regurgitation of press releases:

What Babylon captured about racism and reggae – Hua Hsu, The New Yorker

A Clear View of Black Londoners When Few Films Saw Them – Wesley Morris, New York Times

Still Babylon: Why A Cult 1980 UK Film Remains Relevant – Grace Shutti – Afropunk

Babylon Rising: The Resurrection of a Controversial UK Reggae Movie – David Fear, Rolling Stone

Your Senses Are There: Brinsley Forde on Franco Rosso, Babylon and present day England (interview) – Anne-Katrin Titze, Eye For Eye Film

Music Legends: Dennis Bovell on style, substance and scoring Babylon (interview) – Anne-Katrin Titze, Eye For Eye Film

How south London has changed since 1980 classic Babylon (on locations in the film) – Chris Lunn, British Film Institute

Babylon also has an instagram account now @babylonthemovie (seems to feature some things from this site too…)

Babylon finally released in USA

Posted on by

39 years after its launch, the film has been deemed safe for American audiences 🙂

This means we get some cool stuff to look at though, including two great new posters and trailer…

The Premiere is 8th March in NYC. More details at Screen Daily and GQ I shall await the reviews with interest…

Martin Stellman interviewed by Seb Carayol for Wax Poetics

Posted on by

http://www.waxpoetics.com/blog/features/guest-blog/babylon-how-black-londons-mean-streets-turned-into-a-legendary-movie/

Great interview with writer and associate producer Martin Stellman which includes some background to the film which was new to me including an alternative unused ending! Also this rather lovely contact sheet:

The interview is from a few year back and is by Seb Carayol to accompany an exhibition. I’m a big fan of Seb’s writing that accompanies his labour of love reissue label Reel-Heavy music.

Today Programme

Posted on by

Babylon was featured on BBC Radio 4’s flagship “Today Programme” this morning. Franco Rosso and Trevor Laird were interviewed and there were a good few snippets from the film including “Shaka gonna beat you Beefy – Shaka RULE!” which was pretty mad to hear while I was still in my dressing gown.

Also interviewed was Dr William “Lez” Henry (aka Lez Lyrix).

The subjects covered were quite uncompromising with Laird and Rosso speaking about police violence and the sus laws whilst Dr Henry dealt with the National Front and the fact that black youth today are mostly fighting with other black youth rather than being the victims of racist violence.

You can listen to an mp3 here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Thanks again to Dave Home!