Cliff’s breakout performance helped ignite global attention, yet it was the full soundtrack — Toots and the Maytals, The Melodians, The Slickers, Dekker — that turned one movie […]
A Love Letter to Jamaica: Land of Look Behind (1982)
Here’s one of our absolute favorite documentaries. Alan Greenberg’s directorial debut Land of Look Behind is a beautifully honest and intimate look into the people and culture surrounding reggae music. The film loosely follows the funeral of reggae icon Bob Marley, who was a close friend of Greenberg’s, but ends up being more of a eulogy and love letter to Jamaica and Rastafarian culture. It features some of the most intimate and personal scenes with Rastafarians we’ve ever seen captured on film. Werner Herzog, who worked closely with Greenberg on many projects, has said that “This film achieves things never seen before in the history of cinema.”
If that’s not enough, Land of Look Behind also includes an incredible “ambient reggae” soundtrack by experimental musician K. Leimer along with performances by Gregory Isaacs, Mutabaruka, and a spoken word piece by Father Amde Hamilton of The Watts Prophets.
The documentary is available to watch below on YouTube, though we highly recommend tracking down a physical copy to view the film in its full glory.
Listen to K. Leimer’s Land of Look Behind:
