“EXPLODES IN THE GUT with a powerful mix of pain and pleasure. Like the reggae music that puls

“EXPLODES IN THE GUT with a powerful mix of pain and pleasure. Like the reggae music that pulses through it, Babylon is RICH ROUGH and REAL. And like the street life of the young black Londoners it portrays, it’s THREATENING, TOUCHING, VIOLENT and FUNNY. ” —Simon Perry, Variety“REMARKABLE. Its hard edge is undeniable. Never lets go for a moment.” —Derek Malcolm, The Guardian@kinolorber Repertory, in partnership with Seventy-Seven, announce their acquisition of the North American rights to Babylon, one of the most highly regarded British cult films. An incendiary portrait of racial tension and police brutality set in Brixton, London, the late Franco Rosso’s Babylon has never been released in the United States until now. Rated X in the U.K., it world premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week in 1980, went to Toronto for its North American premiere, but was passed on by the New York Film Festival: the Time Out headline from the film’s cover story upon its British release in November 1980 read, “the movie the New York Film Festival found too hot to handle.” Punk doyenne Vivien Goldman, who wrote the article, cited the reasons: “being too controversial, and likely to incite racial tension.”Babylon follows a young dancehall DJ (Brinsley Forde, MBE, frontman of British reggae group Aswad) in Thatcher-era South London as he pursues his musical ambitions, while battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbors, police, and the National Front. Written by Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia) and shot by two-time Oscar® winner Chris Menges (The Killing Fields) with beautiful, smoky cinematography that has been compared to Taxi Driver, Babylon is fearless and unsentimental, yet tempered by the hazy bliss of the dancehall set to a blistering reggae, dub, and lovers rock soundtrack featuring Aswad, Johnny Clarke, Dennis Bovell, and more.Long in the making and taking inspiration from both Mean Streets and The Warriors, Babylon was written by Rosso and Stellman in 1973-74  as a “Play for Today”: the BBC’s acclaimed weekly filmed play series at which many directors cut their teeth, including Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears, Alan Clarke, and others. But the BBC wouldn’t touch it: “There was absolutely nothing that was about the life of young Londoners. Absolutely nothing. We were operating in a complete vacuum,” (Stellman).  It took Gavrik Losey, director Joseph Losey’s son, to sign on as the producer and convince Chrysalis Records and Mamoun Hassan, the visionary new head of the National Film Finance Corporation, to back the project.Babylon was negotiated by Kino Lorber President Richard Lorber and Director of Repertory Theatrical Distribution and Acquisitions  Jonathan Hertzberg and AMBI. “Like many of the films we champion on our Kino Lorber Repertory label, Franco Rosso’s Babylon is a great movie from the past that remains relevant today and which, for various reasons, has flown under the radar in our country up until now,” says Hertzberg. “When we found out that our friend and collaborator Gabriele Caroti was as passionate about this lost classic as we were, it was an easy decision to team up and ensure that the film’s rollout is as tallawah—strong and robust—as it so richly deserves.”This will mark the debut of boutique film label Seventy-Seven, which will release Babylon alongside Kino Lorber Repertory. Seventy-Seven is Gabriele Caroti’s label focusing on vintage, underseen, and underappreciated fare. Back in 2012, Caroti curated a reggae film series pegged to Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence in which he programmed the film: “Babylon forms the trinity of great reggae films alongside The Harder They Come and Rockers, but this one’s the best—toppa top. It transcends. It’s extremely powerful and very relevant 40 years later,” says Caroti. “When discovering it was never released stateside, I was shocked and then thought that I had to be the one to do it—also being an Italian expatriate reggae-head. So after leaving BAM, I started exploring that possibility and, lo and behold, my friends at Kino Lorber were as well so we’ve decided to join forces. I’m thrilled. It’s been a dream to make this happen.”Babylon will be rolled out March 8,  followed by streaming, VOD, and home video. -- source link

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