Project Detail

Hustlers Convention

Synopsis

A feature documentary on the forgotten roots of rap. The story centers around Jalal Nuriddin of "The Last Poets" and the forgotten influence of his seminal record 'Hustlers Convention', an album that changed the face of music and still resonates with meaning today.
Hailed by Grandmaster Flash and Chuck D, sampled by the Beastie Boys, Wu Tang Clan, and Nas, Hustlers Convention was the foundation for todays hip-hop scene. This film tells of one of music’s buried masterpieces: the missing link between soul power and hip hop, which gave its creator the right to claim his title as the ‘grandfather of rap’.

Details

Year
2015
Type of project
Features
Running time
91 mins
Director
Mike Todd
Producer
Quenell Jones, Lathan Hodge, Mike Todd, Geseth Garcia
Executive Producer
Carl Hall, Chuck D
Principal cast
Jalal Nuriddin (aka Lightnin’ Rod), Melle Mel, Ice T, KRS One, Chuck D

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Riverhorse

Geseth Garcia
Unit 21 Greenheys
Manchester Science Park
Pencroft Way
Manchester
M15 6JJ

Sales Company

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears

Director: Mike Todd

Year: 2011

They say Philadelphia is the capital of boxing and Joe Frazier’s gym is the Whitehouse. Joe Frazier, one of the most famous athletes of the 20th century, is lost in the legend of one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sport. Filmed during the final years of the iconic boxer's life and told through the voice of son Marvis, this documentary reveals the story of the real Joe Frazier for the first time. For over forty years, since the last of his million dollar bouts with Ali, Foreman and others, Joe’s commitment to his adopted Philadelphia neighborhood kept his landmark gym alive. Now, tragically, it has to close.

Main character from The Things We Don't Say lying on the ground, looking contemplative The Things We Don't Say

Director: Ornella Mutoni

Year: 2024

A group of young adults born during or just after the 1994 genocide against Rwanda's Tutsi people gather to find the courage to break a powerful taboo. Rwanda is one of the few nations in the world providing specialist counselling for children conceived through rape, who number 10,000 across the country. Here, course leader Emilienne, a mother, therapist and genocide survivor, helps the group to imagine a future free from family secrets and societal stigma. In a circle of supportive peers, they tell their individual stories and face their struggles together, in the hope their participation will advocate for others facing similar trauma. Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024 NY African Film Festival 2025

Frank Zappa reads at The Nova Convention in New York City NOVA '78

Director: Aaron Brookner, Rodrigo Areias

Year: 2025

NOVA '78 resurrects the legendary Nova Convention, the groundbreaking three-day gathering held in New York in 1978 to celebrate William S. Burroughs and the artistic revolution he inspired. Built from newly restored, previously unseen 16mm footage shot by Howard Brookner, the film captures extraordinary performances and intimate backstage moments featuring Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Laurie Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, John Cage, Merce Cunningham and many other defining voices of the era. More than a concert film or historical record, NOVA '78 is an immersive time capsule of a fleeting moment when literature, music, art and radical ideas collided to reshape contemporary culture.