At the height of the golden age of reggae, some of Jamaica’s brightest stars left their homeland to relocate to Toronto. Now their stories and the musical community they helped build are celebrated in Graeme Mathieson and Chris Flanagan’s captivating National Film Board of Canada (NFB) anthology series Sounds & Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land, premiering August 23 on nfb.ca and the NFB’s streaming platform for smart TVs.
Toronto’s Paradise Theatre will also host a special screening and launch event on August 22.
Through rare archives, electrifying needle drops and lively interviews, this five-part series takes viewers from Kingston to Kensington Market to see and hear how reggae made roots in Canada against all odds, chronicling the musical and geographical journeys of Nana McLean, Johnny Osbourne, Leroy Sibbles, Jerry Brown and the duo of Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison.
Getting their sound to catch on in Canada wasn’t easy. These innovators of rhythm and rhyme had to work against racism, scarce resources and an industry that stigmatized reggae music. But that didn’t stop them from transforming the city into a reggae mecca. With a powerful message of love and a revolutionary spirit behind them, these visionaries faced the pressure head on—and thanks to them, you can still feel the infectious beats of Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue reverberating all over the world.
Prior to the online launch, the Paradise Theatre (1006c Bloor Street West) is hosting a special Toronto screening of all five episodes on August 22, starting at 8 p.m. The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with directors Graeme Mathieson and Chris Flanagan, and all five artists featured in the series, moderated by journalist/radio host Danae Peart. General admission is $15.00 + HST/fees. Tickets are available now at eventbrite.
