Marleys unite for a common goal
By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 11/5/2007
NOV. 5 | Bob Marley had a vision for Africa to become a unified entity. In the feature documentary Africa Unite, his family, led by wife Rita, furthers that vision by traveling to Ethiopia in 2005 for a landmark concert performance. The concert served as the starting point for annual Africa Unite events, the next of which will be held in Jamaica during Black History Month this February.
Marley
Palm Pictures will release the Africa Unite DVD that month as well, after the film gets a theatrical release this winter. Including rare footage of Marley, the film is part concert tribute to the reggae icon, part Marley family travelogue and part humanitarian documentary. It also includes appearances by Danny Glover, who is a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, and others committed to encouraging peace, education and empowerment for the youth of Africa. One of them is Bob’s son, Ziggy Marley, the most well-known of the children who’ve followed in their father’s reggae footsteps. He spoke with VB’s Cindy Spielvogel about Africa Unite and his dad.
VB: What is the idea behind the Africa Unite movement, and why is the Africa Unite DVD a good release for Black History Month?
Marley: We believe that one of the greatest things that can be done in Africa is for Africa to unite. It has been a dream of many of our forefathers and many African leaders in the past—just like the unity of the U.S. and Europe. But for Africa, it is even more important because the resources in Africa, if put to the right use, can benefit Africa. To do this in Black History Month is a way to shed more light on the issue.
VB: When is a music DVD better than just music, and do you enjoy DVDs yourself?
Marley: DVDs are another avenue to get a message across. Sometimes hearing is not enough and seeing might mean more to some people, to connect on a visual level. I am a collector; I watch a lot of movies on the bus on tours. I have a Bob Dylan DVD and a few more. I like Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof; it’s old school, back to the ’70s. I’m a movie connoisseur. I’m trying to get into writing a few scripts—it’s another avenue to use creativity. In school, English language and writing were my favorite subjects. I’m a pretty good writer.
VB: Why do you think your father’s music is still popular today?
Marley: It’s the substance. The artists that have substance in their music, the music that means more than a fad, music that lasts longer than the time they made it in, are the people that last forever. It has no time in mind, like some particular beat today. My father was not like that. It was done on a different level, a more spiritual level. It’s music that will endure, that has substance. That’s the reason why he made it, and what he was saying all still exists. It’s deep; it’s not shallow.
Palm/Vivendi Visual
Africa Unite The politically driven music documentary features three generations of the Marley family on their historic first journey together to Ethiopia. Street Feb. 12, prebook Jan. 15; DVD $24.98
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