Cinema
Dancehall Queen
Rick Elgood and Don Letts · 1997
Synopsis
In Kingston, Marcia, a street vendor, raises her two daughters alone on what her small trade brings in; Larry, who helps her make ends meet, covets her elder daughter Tanya, and Priest, a local thug who has already killed a friend of Marcia's, threatens her. To get out of it, she transforms herself, unrecognisable, into a dancer known as the Mystery Lady, and enters a dancehall contest with a cash prize, intending to set the two men against each other.
Context
The film grew out of an idea by Chris Blackwell, who was one of its producers with Carolyn Pfeiffer and Carl Bradshaw; Don Letts rewrote the screenplay over three months with Suzanne Fenn. Audrey Reid plays Marcia and Paul Campbell plays Priest; Beenie Man and Lady Saw appear in person, the title song is by Beenie Man and the music by Wally Badarou. Released on 10 October 1997, it was presented at the Rotterdam festival in 1998.
Who it is for
In Jamaican Creole and English, ninety-eight minutes; the dancehall music of the nineties plays a central part in it.
Prizes and reception
It stayed in cinemas in Jamaica longer than any other film and broke attendance records there, ahead of the big American hits of the season.
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