Dennis Bovell
Acting
Biography
Dennis Bovell MBE (born 22 May 1953) is a Barbados-born reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of a progressive rock group called Stonehenge, who later changed name and became the British reggae band Matumbi, and released dub-reggae records under his own name as well as the pseudonym Blackbeard. He is most widely known for his decades-spanning collaborations with Linton Kwesi Johnson. Born in Saint Peter, Barbados, in 1953, Bovell moved to South London in 1965 and became immersed in Jamaican culture, particularly dub music, setting up his own Jah Sufferer sound system. Running the sound system brought trouble from the police and Bovell was imprisoned for six months on remand, but was later released on appeal. Bovell was friends at school with future rock musicians including keyboardist Nick Straker and record producer Tony Mansfield, both of whom later worked with Bovell. He was a member of a progressive rock group called Stonehenge, who later changed name and became the British reggae band Matumbi. He formed Matumbi in the mid-1970s. Bovell also worked as an engineer at Dip Records, the precursor to the Lovers Rock label, and he was a key figure in the early days of the lovers rock genre. He is also known for attempting to fuse disco rhythms with reggae, most notably with the hit song "Silly Games" by Janet Kay. According to Bovell, he wrote "Silly Games" with the sole intent of it being a hit song. He has produced albums by a wide variety of artists including Creation Rebel, I-Roy, the Thompson Twins, Sharon Shannon, Alpha Blondy, Bananarama, the Pop Group, Fela Kuti, the Slits, Orange Juice and Madness. He has collaborated with poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson for much of his working life. In Steve McQueen's 2020 film Lovers Rock, the second in his five-part anthology series Small Axe, Bovell has a cameo role and his song "Silly Games" is prominently featured. Bovell was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to music.
Known For
An anthology series of five stories looking at the lives of a group of friends and their families in London’s West Indian community from the late 1960s to the early 80s.
Small Axe
Drama telling the story of Blue, a young man of Jamaican descent living in Brixton in 1980, as he hangs out with his friends, fronts a dub sound system, loses his job, struggles with family problems and has his friendships tested by racism.
Babylon
Exploring how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, when a group of artists united to take on the National Front, armed only with a fanzine and a love of music.
White Riot
After thieves botch an armored truck robbery that leads to the death of an innocent young girl, her father vows revenge by recruiting a sociopathic hitman to track them down and assassinate them.
Slayground
British 'Semi-Fictional' sports drama featuring Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion Barry Sheene as himself. It tells the story of Sheene's pursuit of the world title, including his recovery from a near-fatal accident at Silverstone.
Space Riders
The tale of the formation, journey and end of the seminal Punk/Reggae band The Slits.
Here to be Heard: The Story of The Slits
Documentary about Don Letts who played a leading role in pop history. Letts injected Afro-Caribbean music into the early punk scene and shot over 300 music videos including for Public Image Ltd. and Bob Marley, but also for teen sensations Musical Youth's reggae smash 'Pass The Dutchie'. Besides his enduring relationship with The Clash, the constant factor in Letts' eventful career as a DJ, manager, film director, musician and radio maker is that, from the 1970s on, he continued to draw attention to cultural issues, as he does today with his radio programme for BBC 6, Culture Clash Radio.
Rebel Dread
Rodney Baverstock wins the football pools and with the money buys a Ferrari, a tiger and a mansion for himself and his friends.
The Boy Who Won the Pools
Follows dub poet master Linton Kwesi Johnson out of the recording studio onto the Brixton streets.
Dread Beat and Blood
Lee Scratch Perry's Vision of Paradise is a unique project in many ways. It is the life story of the legendary musician, but it is not a biography, it is a fairytale documentary! The director followed Lee Perry for thirteen years and discovered an unbelievable story, a revelation, told about and with one of the major protagonists of contemporary music, the other half of the story that has never been told. The movie can be seen as a guide for how to change the world with music, with a positive attitude, mindset or, as Lee Perry calls it, vibration.
Lee Scratch Perry's Vision of Paradise
In Roberta Torre's "true story of Romeo and Julet", Toni Giulietto is a vulnerable street singer and Little Tony-impersonator (who is himself an Italian Elvis-impersonator) who is constantly deceived and hoodwinked by almost everyone he knows. Romea is an attractive Nigerian immigrant who sells sex on the streets of Palermo to pay off her huge fee to the man who smuggled her in to the country. Various characters plot against each other and the plots, which draw in people from all the different social strata, spiral out of control as the tug-of-war between these different factions of Sicilian society is fought to the last.
Sud Side Stori
Growing up Black and Queer in 1970s and 80s Britain.
Beyond: There’s Always A Black Issue, Dear
Following the experiences of 13 young people attempting to live their lives under a new philosophy.