Project Detail

Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records

Synopsis

"The seeds for the multicultural society we live in now were formed on the dancefloor back in the day" says Don Letts by way of introduction to Nicolas Jack Davies’ documentary about Trojan Records, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The company was founded by Windrush immigrant Lee Gopthal, against a backdrop of rising racial hatred. 'Rudeboy' charts the label’s evolution from 1960s ska and rock-steady to the chart-topping hits that introduced reggae to a global audience, while also recalling the prejudice that the music’s pioneering artists and producers had to overcome in London. Blending original interviews with evocative archive footage and cinematic reconstructions, the film is a timely celebration of British Jamaican working-class youth culture, style and ingenuity.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2018 - Create Strand - World premiere
Official Selection IDFA 2018 - International premiere
We Are One: A Global Film Festival 2020 - Selection Curated by BFI London Film Festival

Details

Year
2018
Type of project
Features
Running time
86 min
Director
Nicolas Jack Davies
Producer
Sam Bridger, Vivienne Perry
Executive Producer
Thomas Benski, Marisa Clifford, Kathy Rivkin Daum, Justus Haerder, Brian Levy
Editor
Chris Duveen
Director of Photography
Jonas Mortensen
Sound
Steven Hodge
Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Effects Editor
Jay Price
Re-recording Mixer
John Rogerson

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

UK, Jamaica co-production

Sales Company

Submarine Entertainment

197 Grand Street, Suite 6W
New York
NY 10013
USA

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.

Dancing on Road Dancing on Road

Director: Lauren Gee

Year: 2024

Documenting and celebrating the Black British female roller-skating community, showcasing its long history and fixture within popular culture. Blurring the boundaries between documentary and music video, this experimental film reveals the expansive network of London’s Black skate scene through two key individuals that share their stories and delve into what this space and their skate crews and mentors provide them. This joyous exploration gives visibility to a subculture that to many outsiders is unknown but is made familiar through its nostalgic lens which pays homage to the sports DIY and music-led roots. Official Selection Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2025

Glaciers Requiem Glaciers Requiem

Director: Saddiq Abubakar

Year: 2026

In isolation on Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Nigerian-born modular synthesis artist Colloboh transforms glacial and oceanic recordings into sonic compositions - uncovering a dialogue between ice and sea that reshapes his understanding of consciousness, ecological collapse, and humanity’s place within both. As his process unfolds, Colloboh transforms these sounds into layered sonic works that blur the boundaries between observation and communion. The film culminates in a haunting gesture: he plays the completed composition back to the landscape itself, completing a dialogue between artist and environment. A meditation on impermanence, consciousness, and the fragile bond between humanity and the natural world.

Two women dressed in traditional Welsh clothing, wearing stove pipe hats. Tŷ Unnos

Director: Lily Tonkin-Wells, Nina Allmoslechner

Year: 2026

It is said that Penrhos cottage was built in one night. According to Welsh folklore, if you could build a house overnight on common land, with smoke rising from the chimney by dawn, the place would be yours to keep. 200 years later in rural Pembrokeshire, the house stands still in time. Beneath its thatched roof lived Rachel and Maria, two sisters who spent their days crafting a life that defied societal rules written for women. Quietly radical, the pair were celebrated by the whole community. A fairytale documentary told through the eyes of the children who once visited. Recounting memories of Penrhos and the legacy of its last owners, the past flickers back to life.