Don Letts’ reputation has been firmly established in both the film and music world by a substantial body of work from the late 70’s through the 80’s, 90’s and well into the millennium. His work has been exhibited in The Kitchen N.Y.C, The Institute of Contemporary Art, The N.F.T in London and was honoured at Brooklyn’s BAM Festival and The Milan Film Festival. In March 2003, he won a Grammy for his documentary ‘Westway To The World’.
Don came to notoriety in the late 70’s as the DJ that single-handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. It was whilst as a DJ at the first punk club ‘The Roxy’ in 1977, that Don adopted the punk D.I.Y ethic and begun to make his first film ‘The Punk Rock Movie‘. Shot on Super-8mm it is the only documentary on the U.K punk scene with acts like Sex Pistols, The Clash and many others. This led to a period directing over 300 music videos for an eclectic mix of diverse artists ranging from Public Image to Bob Marley. He then moved into documentary work covering the likes of Gil Scot-Heron, The Jam, Sun Ra, George Clinton and most recently Paul McCartney. Dancehall Queen (co-directed by Rick Elgood) shot in location in Jamaica 1997 was his first feature film.
At the end of 2007 Don presented ‘Speakers Corner’ in conjunction with the Arts Council England. Featuring several spoken word artists, poets and rappers with a musical band in a theatrical setting. The event toured the UK in November-December and was a contemporary response to the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade.
Don’s no stranger to Confetti, having performed a special set at Metronome, and we can’t wait to welcome him back.
