Babylon (1980 film)

Babylon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFranco Rosso
Written byFranco Rosso
Martin Stellman
Produced byGavrik Losey
StarringBrinsley Forde
Karl Howman
Trevor Laird
CinematographyChris Menges
Edited byThomas Schwalm
Music byDennis Bovell
Production
company
Distributed byKino Lorber Repertory Seventy-Seven
Release date
  • 30 October 1980 (1980-10-30) (United Kingdom)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish and Jamaican patois with subtitles
Budget£300,000

Babylon is a 1980 British drama film directed by Franco Rosso. Written by Franco Rosso and Martin Stellman, it is an incendiary portrait of racial tension and police brutality set in Brixton, London. The film, anchored by Dennis Bovell’s propulsive score, is partly based on Bovell’s false imprisonment for running a Jamaican sound system, Sufferer’s Hi Fi, in the mid-70s.

Produced by Gavrik Losey and the National Film Finance Corporation, the film is regarded as a classic.