WHEN "MADE IN JAMAICA" made its D.C. premiere at last fall's French film festival, C'est Chic!, the theater was so packed that people sat on the floors in the small E Street Cinema.

There will be considerably more places to park your fanny when "Made in Jamaica" screens on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the 1,237-seat Lincoln Theatre as part of Filmfest D.C. (It will also show May 3 at the smaller Regal Cinemas Gallery Place.)

The lushly filmed two-hour documentary on the music and politics of Jamaica is perhaps the best-looking movie ever made about the island, the city of Kingston and its socio-sonic cultures.

"It cost more than $5 million, and it was completely shot in HD," said D.C.-based producer Charlotte Lawrence, who will be at Friday's screening. "And the director, Jerome [Laperrousaz], is a maniac for aesthetics — he only likes beautiful things, even with his women."

The film captures 20 artists in performance and conversation — both high in the mountains and deep in the ghettos — from reggae legends such as Bunny Wailer, Toots & The Maytals and Gregory Isaacs to modern dancehall stars such as Capleton, Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel.

"Everything was shot live; the only lip-synched performance was when Bunny was singing 'I Shot the Sheriff,'" Lawrence said. "That's why it cost so much money: We always had to move around all the [equipment] to tape all the music."

The musical performances make up the rhythm of the movie — and provide most of those beautiful aesthetic pleasures that Laperrousaz captures so well — but Lawrence agreed that it's the personal stories of some of the more experienced artists that provide the film's most memorable moments.

"What I really like is the second half of the film," she said. "A few moments are extremely powerful, [as] when [Third World's] Cat Coore is playing with his son, Shiah Coore. This is a music that they ... invented while they were being shot by Jerome. [Cat's] giving a lesson to his son about the beauty of music as a way to get above all the social problems — and the daily life problems — with music. And I love that philosophy.

"There are some moments that I really love with Toots [Hibbert]," Lawrence added, such as "when Toots is relating how he ended up in the music business — when he wanted to be a barber."

It may seem strange that a French production company would take such time and expense to create this love letter to Jamaica, but Laperrousaz has had a long affair with the island and its people. In 1980, he did his first documentary, which was about roots-reggae vets Third World, but there's also a more personal reason for his attachment.

"Jerome's mother remarried a Jamaican," Lawrence said, "so that's why Jerome has always been very close to Jamaica."

And France is also in tune with the music of Jamaica. Along with Germany, England, Italy and Japan, some of the greatest audiences for the sounds of Jamrock are in France.

"The film was released theatrically in France last June and it was a great success," Lawrence said, recalling that it even equaled the per-screen average of "Shrek the Third" during a three-week period. The film also came out on DVD in France, and the soundtrack was released on CD.

But "Made in Jamaica" hasn't had such an open-arms reception in the U.S.: Lawrence Pictures has shopped the film here, but so far there have been no takers for a theatrical release.

"What I think is that the lobby in Hollywood is not made up of people who like reggae — or don't like reggae enough to take the risk to market the film," Lawrence said. "But it's not just about reggae; it about social issues. ... Maybe [the screenings in] Washington, D.C., will bring [some attention] to the film."

But because "Made in Jamaica" is more than just a music documentary, it's actually caused some uncomfortable ripples within Jamdown's ruling body.

"The Jamaican government didn't really like our film," Lawrence said. "When Bunny Wailer is discussing the problems in Jamaica, he said the ones who should be blamed are the politicians — because they're letting the guns into Jamaica. ... Most of the artists are condemning the state."

But at least if the Embassy of Jamaica wants to send a rep to check out the film on Friday, there'll be plenty of seats.

Starting from the top, images of Capleton, Bunny Wailer, Toots Hibbert and Beres Hammond and Cat Coore culled from 'Made in Jamaica,' courtesy Cinemavault,

Posted by Christopher Porter at 8:48 AM on April 23, 2008
Tagged in Entertainment , Film , Music , The District , Top Stories , U St.-Cardozo , U Street-Cardozo