Review of the latest releases
REBEL DREAD (15, 84 mins)
Showing now in UK & Ireland selected cinemas
FIRST generation Britishborn black film-maker, DJ, musician and cultural commentator Don Letts has been a driving force in popular culture for more than 40 years.
He was embedded in the inner circle of The Clash and Johnny Rotten, introduced reggae to the nascent punk scene of the 1970s and 1980s, and then formed Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones, nimbly traversing musical genres including dance, reggae, rap and rock’n’roll.
Director William E Badgley’s feature-length documentary explores the life and career of Letts against a backdrop of political and social unrest on home turf including Enoch Powell’s 1968 “Rivers of Blood” speech.
Rebel Dread covers Letts’ work behind the camera, directing music videos for Chain Gang, London Calling and Pass The Dutchie, and feature films including Dancehall Queen and One Love starring Idris Elba.
MIRUSIA SINGS FOR YOU (U, 89 mins)
Showing now in UK & Ireland selected cinemas
BORN and raised in Brisbane, operatic soprano Mirusia Louwerse is affectionately known as “The Angel of Australia”.
She toured the world with Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu for more than 10 years, building an ardent fanbase with her distinctive voice.
In this concert recorded during her This Time Tomorrow tour, Louwerse performs a set list including Ave Maria, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Memory, Pie Jesu and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.
ROYAL OPERA LIVE ENCORE SCREENING: RIGOLETTO (Certificate TBC, 165 mins)
Showing now in UK & Ireland selected cinemas
AN ANNIVERSARY screening of Oliver Mears’ staging of Verdi’s emotionally devastating opera, which was recorded live on the stage of the Royal Opera House in London.
Rigoletto (Carlos Alvarez) is a deformed court jester in the employ of renowned womaniser the Duke of Mantua (Liparit Avetisyan).
They are a formidable double-act, working together to mock the cuckolded husbands whose wives have become notches on the Duke’s proverbial bedpost.
Count Ceprano (Blaise Malaba) harbours a deep resentment for both men and he plots a fitting revenge.