Dread Beat an’ Blood Trailer Premiere at Rolling Stone
Dub Poet Legend Linton Kwesi Johnson Returns to Stage and Screen. Dread Beat an Blood, a still-vital 1979 film on the poet and writer's life, will be re-released in September. By David Browne
The Atlantic Festival - North American Premiere - LKJ @ BAM
Premiere of Dread Beat an’ Blood at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), featuring a live performance by legendary poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. After the screening, Johnson takes the stage in person, reciting his poetry in his first US theatrical appearance in close to two decades and participating in a moderated conversation with Vann R. Newkirk II, senior editor at The Atlantic.
Linton Kwesi Johnson: Dread Beat an Blood - New York Premiere of 2K Restoration at BAM
Born in Jamaica, poet, reggae artist, and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson(LKJ) moved to England in 1963, and by the late 70s attained iconic status with his robust voice, passionate activism, and fervent verse set to heavy dub. Marking the 50th anniversary of Johnson’s groundbreaking 1975 eponymous poem, the potent documentary portrait Dread Beat an Blood by Franco Rosso—director of the incendiary Babylon, which screened at BAM Rose Cinemas in 2012, 2019 and 2024—comes to the Steinberg Screen in a beautiful new restoration from the original 16mm elements by the British Film Institute.