Movie: Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul

Top 10 Billed Cast

Jay Douglas
Jay Douglas

Jay Douglas

Jackie Richardson
Jackie Richardson

Jackie Richardson

Lowell 'Sly' Dunbar
Lowell 'Sly' Dunbar

Lowell 'Sly' Dunbar

Rollie "Cadence Weapon" Pemberton
Rollie "Cadence Weapon" Pemberton

Rollie "Cadence Weapon" Pemberton

Lillian Allen
Lillian Allen

Lillian Allen

Klive Walker
Klive Walker

Klive Walker

Nicholas Jennings
Nicholas Jennings

Nicholas Jennings

Carlene Davis
Carlene Davis

Carlene Davis

Grub Cooper
Grub Cooper

Grub Cooper

Supreme La Rock
Supreme La Rock

Supreme La Rock

  • HomePage

    Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul

  • Overview

    In early 1960s Toronto, a white, Anglo-centric city, an underground music scene emerged from the Jamaican diaspora, led by newcomers like Jackie Mittoo, Wayne McGhie, and a young Jay Douglas. Battling racism and indifference, they left a lasting but underrecognized mark on Canadian music and culture. Nearly 60 years later, Jay Douglas still champions Jamaican music and is finally receiving long-overdue recognition. Play It Loud is a feature documentary that tells the little-known story of how Jamaican music became a vital, unlikely part of Canadian culture. It traces a cultural migration that made Canada a global hub for Jamaican music - celebrated abroad but overlooked at home. Told through the life and music of beloved singer Jay Douglas, born Clive Pinnock in rural Jamaica, the film follows his journey from teen performer to enduring icon.

  • Release Date

    2024-12-04

  • Average

    0

  • Rating:

    0.0 starts
  • Tagline

    Play it Loud is a feature documentary that tells the little known story of how Jamaican music became a critical and unlikely part of Canadian culture, told through the life, music, struggles and triumphs of beloved singer Jay Douglas.

  • Genres

  • Languages:

    English
  • Keywords

Similar Movies

Nanook of the North
71%

Nanook of the North(en)

1922-06-11

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Tear the Roof Off: The Untold Story of Parliament Funkadelic
77%

Tear the Roof Off: The Untold Story of Parliament Funkadelic(en)

2016-02-26

The untold true story: The rise and fall of the greatest funk band ever, Parliament Funkadelic.

Glenn Gould: Extasis
0%

Glenn Gould: Extasis(fr)

1993-12-31

A collection of recollections and opinions of and about Glenn Gould, interspersed with excerpts of archive footage of the great Canadian pianist speaking and playing.

King of the Hill: A 70th Anniversary Retrospective of Cincinnati’s King Records
46%

King of the Hill: A 70th Anniversary Retrospective of Cincinnati’s King Records(en)

2014-08-08

James Brown was the jewel in the crown, but the throne of Cincinnati’s King Records always belonged to its irascible founder, Syd Nathan. This is the 70th anniversary of the legendary record label and studio. It closed shop nearly 40 years ago, in a now long-neglected warehouse on the neighborhood border of Evanston and Walnut Hills, but its impact still reverberates across today’s music.

Bowling for Columbine
75%

Bowling for Columbine(en)

2002-10-09

This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.

The Royal Visit
0%

The Royal Visit(en)

1939-11-18

This feature documentary offers a complete record of the 1939 Royal Tour of Canada by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The film opens as the royal couple makes a stop in Québec city, where Premier Duplessis greets them. They then visit Montréal and meet mayor Camilien Houde. A visit to Ottawa brings them to Parliament, where Prime Minister MacKenzie King is present. The visit continues throughout Ontario, the prairies, and western Canada. The Royal couple also makes a brief stop in Washington and meets President Franklin Roosevelt. They then stop in on the Maritime provinces before boarding a Royal yacht for the journey back to England.

Festival Express
71%

Festival Express(en)

2003-09-19

The filmed account of a large Canadian rock festival train tour boasting major acts. In the summer of 1970, a chartered train crossed Canada carrying some of the world's greatest rock bands. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, and others lived (and partied) together for five days, stopping in major cities along the way to play live concerts. Their journey was filmed.

The Commitments
73%

The Commitments(en)

1991-08-14

Jimmy Rabbitte, just a thick-ya out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan.

White Riot
72%

White Riot(en)

2020-04-03

Exploring how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, when a group of artists united to take on the National Front, armed only with a fanzine and a love of music.

The Corporation
76%

The Corporation(en)

2003-09-10

Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.

The Dionne Quintuplets
0%

The Dionne Quintuplets(en)

1978-11-19

In 1934, Elzire Dionne delivered five identical girls. The Dionne Quintuplets follows Cecile, Emilie, Marie, Yvonne and Annette through twenty-one years of strange upbringing. When the girls were just infants, the premier of Ontario issued a court order removing them from parental care. Cut off from the world and their family, over-publicized, viewed twice daily in a special viewing compound, they grew up as prize exhibits. Director Donald Brittain uses old newsreel footage, home-movie sequences and interviews to depict a historic event that became a tragic exploitation of a family.

We Will Rock You
82%

We Will Rock You(en)

1982-05-03

In November 1981, and with “Under Pressure” topping the charts in the UK, Queen performed a blistering set of hits – including "We Will Rock You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" – in front of an 18,000-strong crowd at Montreal's Forum, in this stunning concert film.

Rockers
71%

Rockers(en)

1979-11-23

Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, plans to make money selling records. After his prized motorcycle is stolen, his plans fall through and he's forced to adapt.

My Enemy, My Brother
0%

My Enemy, My Brother(en)

2017-04-29

The eight-year Iran-Iraq War was one of the most brutal conflicts to devastate the region in the 20th century. Zahed was 13 years old when he enrolled in the Iranian army. Najah was 18 when he was conscripted into the Iraqi army, and he fought against Zahed in the Battle of Khorramshahr. Fast forward 25 years, a chance encounter in Vancouver between these two former enemies turns into a deep and mutually supportive friendship. Expanded from the 2015 short film by the same name.

James Brown: Soul Survivor
75%

James Brown: Soul Survivor(en)

2003-10-29

James Brown's legacy has influenced rap, soul, funk and R&B. But along with his huge talent, there's a dark side to Brown's success that includes stints in prison and unceasing tabloid speculation. This in-depth documentary takes a look at the meteoric highs and deep lows of Brown's career, offering some fascinating insights from the Godfather of Soul himself, as well as interview footage with Chuck D, Little Richard, Wyclef Jean and many others.

The Whale and the Raven
87%

The Whale and the Raven(en)

2019-09-05

Director Mirjam Leuze’s The Whale and The Raven illuminates the many issues that have drawn whale researchers, the Gitga’at First Nation, and the Government of British Columbia into a complex conflict. As the people in the Great Bear Rainforest struggle to protect their territory against the pressure and promise of the gas industry, caught in between are the countless beings that call this place home.

Picture of Light
67%

Picture of Light(en)

1994-06-10

A documentary of an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba to film the Northern Lights.

On the Sly: In Search of the Family Stone
0%

On the Sly: In Search of the Family Stone(en)

2017-01-22

One man's search for the prolific funk legend, Sly Stone.

Lost Heroes
80%

Lost Heroes(en)

2014-02-28

Lost Heroes is the story of Canada's forgotten comic book superheroes and their legendary creators. A ninety-minute journey to recover a forgotten part of Canada's pop culture and a national treasure few have ever heard about. This is the tale of a small country striving to create its own heroes, but finding itself constantly out muscled by better-funded and better-marketed superheroes from the media empire next door.

When We Were Kings
77%

When We Were Kings(en)

1996-10-25

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.