FRANCO ROSSO and MARTIN STELLMAN wrote the original draft of Babylon for the BBC 'Play for Today' series in the mid-1970s. It was never used. They decided to turn it into a feature film and waited five years for the cameras to turn. That they did, finally, was due to their own persistence and the perception of Mamoun Hassan of the N.F.F.C. [National Film Finance Corporation] and GAVRIK LOSEY, the film's producer. Losey was the maverick UK-raised son of the ex-Hollywood direct Joseph Losey who made strictly mainstream movies in England after WW2.

As Franco Rosso explains it: "This was not an easy subject to raise film finance on. It falls into none of the obvious commercial categories and producers are notoriously myopic when it comes to evaluating the unusual. Mamoun gave us tremendous support as well as the necessary finance and then Gavrik came in and turned it into a reality". Martin Stellman adds "Even then it wasn't easy. We were working on a shoestring budget. I live in a bedsit in North London. Until a couple of weeks before filming we were using that as our headquarters. Much of the casting was done there. I'd look around my room and all the papers scattered everywhere and think 'this is ridiculous Babylon' was, in fact, the only film financed by the N.F.F.C. that year."

When Gavrik Losey came into the project he raised further finance from the Chrysalis Group of Companies and from Lee Studios. "I went to Chrysalis, told them we were making a reggae film, and offered them a deal for the record. At that stage they didn't want to commit themselves to the record but amazingly they offered us £30,000 towards production simply because the guy I approached believed so strongly in the film".

Babylon was filmed entirely on locations in South London (Deptford) and the West End over six weeks. The production headquarters were above a rambling and draughty church in Deptford. The film set was totally closed to visitors (including journalists) because of the film's sensitive subject matter and the fact that shooting was taking place in an area of London where there is racial tension.

The cast of actors was carefully chosen, with the help of casting director Sheila Trezise, by Franco Rosso and Martin Stellman, who already had many contacts within the black community. "This is the first time I have actually seen black actors acting", says Gavrik. "All too often they are there on screen as a kind of symbol. In 'Babylon' they carry the film".

Aside from the regular actors there were many extras. The vast majority were West Indians living around the Deptford, Lewisham, Peckham and Croydon area. "At first the extras union said we should only use their members but when they read the script they realised that was ridiculous. There just aren't that many black members of the union". More or less the only direction the extras needed was 'act natural'. All of them were already familiar with sound system competitions and with reggae, the louder the better.

Margaret Thatcher is newly installed in 10 Downing Street, causing fits of gloom in the theatre, film and television world. Punk rock is making a noisy exit from the music scene, to be succeeded by the easier-on-the-ear mod and ska revival. Then along comes Babylon (1980 d. Franco Rosso). Notwithstanding the X certificate, and the questionable use of subtitles, Babylon was an instant classic, akin to that other legendary reggae music film, The Harder They Come (Jamaica, d. Perry Henzell, 1972).
_____________________________________________________________

Babylon is a potent mix of music and social commentary, flawlessly photographed by the celebrated Chris Menges (Local Hero, 1983; The Killing Fields, 1984; The Mission, 1986) and with an extraordinary 'starry' cast headed by actor-musician Brinsley Forde (Brinsley Dan) as 'Blue', the alienated young man at the heart of the story. British born of Guyanese parents, Forde was a successful child actor (The Magnificent Six and 1/2 (ITV, 1968-71) and The Double Deckers (BBC, 1970-71), later joining British reggae group Aswad.

Screenwriter Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia, d. Franc Roddam, 1979) and director Franco Rosso (Dread, Beat An'Blood, tx. BBC, 7/6/79) have crafted a superb, truthful film that stands up more than twenty years later.

Set predominantly in South London, it presents a portrait of the young black community in London different from the tabloid stereotype. These black people are not muggers, rapists or chronic thieves. They are ordinary young black guys at the sharp end of inner city survival with dreams and fears of ordinary young people in general. Except of course that just like the subletted garage where they house their equipment and play their tunes, their lives are hemmed in by the predictability of poverty, disillusion and the randomness of violence that can erupt at any time.
The final scene, in which police raid the dancehall while Blue and the sound system defiantly plays on, is both frightening and euphoric.

fiba thanks the following website for much of the above:
http://www.uncarved.org/dub/babylon/index.html