Good Morning!! I actually had more than 4 hours sleep last night which resulted in me missing some of the Germany game but also resulted in me feeling a bit more refreshed. So…onto the weekend. One of the very best things about the blog is your participation with photos, news, opinions and reports. I’m really excited to have a few special features lined up for the next few days and I sincerely appreciate the time given to write for the blog.

A few weeks ago NXNE took over Toronto for a week and the film festival threw up a really nice double bill for Clash fans. The Strummerville film was followed by the Don Letts documentary so a great opportunity to have an evening of Clash related large screen entertainment. Luckily a good friend of the blog Steve is in Toronto and he was able to get down to the event. Steve is a I’m a writer/editor/designer but when it comes to music simply relishes it and likes to have fun by going to concerts, films, etc. Thanks again Steve for putting this together – over to you:

I got a chance to see the Strummerville documentary at NXNE on Saturday (I was helping out a club all week, but managed to get away to see it). A must for Clash and Strummer fans, but casual observers might wonder what all the fuss is about.
Like most Don Letts’ films, this was a labour of love and lucky for us that he spent so much time documenting the Clash and other bands back in the day. As such there is some great footage of Strummer and of course Letts has access to anyone that has ever been associated with the Clash. The documentary focuses mostly on some of the bands that have benefited from Strummerville through sponsored rehearsal space and/or recording time. The bands, not surprisingly, are quite good (and for the most part are available for free downloads from the Strummerville website). It also looks at other agencies assisted by Strummerville such as Jail Guitar Doors. Lucinda is featured prominently throughout the 50 minute film, yet not once does it mention that she was Joe’s wife.

Strummerville also goes to great length to point out what a wonderful guy Joe was and how much he loved people. Having met Joe a couple of times I would have to say that is true, especially in his post-Clash days. But I always got the sense through many of his interviews that he was a man of many regrets and that a lot of his good deeds stem from his wanting to right some of his own wrongs. Nothing wrong with that, though.

The message ultimately is that Joe’s spirit lives through the works of Strummerville and by that it means that talented performers will not go unheard just because they have no money and just because they don’t know who Joe is. This film mostly likely won’t be coming to a theatre near anyone unless your town has an independent theatre house or some sort of film festival. Most likely you will find it on public television or on DVD.

Strummerville was coupled with a documentary on Letts himself called Supersonic Sounds: Rebel Dread. Sometimes its easy to forget what Don Letts has left us with. He had the vision or foresight to get so many musical events — punk or otherwise — onto film. I just hope other filmmakers around the globe are doing the same now. One thing that Letts mentions in the film that I never knew before is that he is the young man standing down the line of police in Notting Hill as picture on Black Market Clash.  (clashblog note: we’ve mentioned that!!)

Letts says that even though the photo makes him out to be some kind of valiant rebel taking a stand, he was actually just moving sideways trying to get out of the way. As well, even though he appears to be confronting 500 coppers, the photo doesn’t show the 1,000 protesters standing behind him. Another myth shattered? I don’t think so. I sense that we is soft selling it a bit and I get the feeling that he never backed away from a good fight. I also talked to the Toronto representative of Strummerville after the film and offered my assistance. They are just getting off the ground and hope to have a presence in 2011.

Back to me ~ and my sincere thanks again to Steve. I’ll be back later today, don’t forget to vote in The Clash Cup. If you have piece to contribute please send it in…it takes some burden off of my fingers and increasingly exhausted mind.

Learn more about the Strummerville film here

Learn more about Supersonic Sounds: Rebel Dread here

Learn more about NXNE here