Babylon

Franco Rosso's incendiary Babylon had its world premiere at Cannes in 1980, but went unreleased in the US on account of being “too controversial, and likely to incite racial tension" (Time Out). The film follows a young dancehall DJ in South London as he pursues his musical ambitions but seems to experience racism and xenophobia at every turn. Set to a sizzling reggae and lover’s rock soundtrack, Babylon is unapologetically raw and unsentimental, but also tempered by the hazy bliss of the dancehall, where one can release the heat of daily indignities, and music becomes both refuge and resistance. A landmark of Black British cinema, Babylon is a furious, sensual portrait of cultural survival under systemic oppression.