On Stage
Don Letts has cemented his reputation in film and music through decades of influential work from the late 1970s onward. His films have been exhibited at The Kitchen, NYC, London’s Institute of Contemporary Art and NFT, and honoured at Brooklyn’s BAM Festival and Milan Film Festival. In 2003, he won a Grammy for his documentary Westway to the World. He came to notoriety in the late 70’s as the DJ who single-handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. While DJing at the first punk club The Roxy in 1977, Don adopted the punk DIY ethic and made The Punk Rock Movie, the only Super-8 documentary of the UK punk scene featuring the Sex Pistols, The Clash, amongst others. He went on to direct over 300 music videos and documentaries on artists including Public Image, Bob Marley, Gil Scott-Heron, Sun Ra, George Clinton, and Paul McCartney. His first feature, Dancehall Queen (1997, co-directed with Rick Elgood), was shot in Jamaica.
In 2007, he presented Speakers Corner, a UK-touring theatrical event featuring poets, rappers, and musicians, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade. He now also hosts Culture Clash on Radio 6.