Studio 17 at the Pan African Film Festival 2020

Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes has been selected for inclusion in the film line-up at the 28th annual Pan African Film Festival which will take place in Los Angeles from 12th February – 23rd February – marking the film’s West Coast premiere.

Screening dates are 21st and 22nd February.

The film documents the story of the Chin’s, The Chinese Jamaican family behind ‘Studio 17’, a legendary recording studio located in downtown Kingston, Jamaica & at the heart of the music revolution that followed Jamaican independence in 1962. Artists who recorded there included Bob Marley & the Wailers, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Alton Ellis, Carl Malcolm, The Skatalites, Ken Boothe, Lord Creator and many more. Political turmoil in the late 1970s forced the Chin family to flee to New York and the recordings were abandoned. Forty years later, a treasure trove of original studio tapes has been salvaged – revealing unique and stunning recordings from the ‘Golden Age’ of reggae, many of which were unreleased and have never been heard before. As the tapes are played they give rise to a myriad of wonderful stories and in a highly poignant conclusion, the teenage voice of the late Dennis Brown is beautifully re-mixed with the vocals of a rising teenage star, Hollie Stephenson, all magically orchestrated by producer and one time Eurythmics star, Dave Stewart.

Directed by Mark James.

Produced by Widestream Films.

Music Supervision by Sync Music’s Christian Siddell.