Inna de Yard: The Soul of Jamaica

“The original state of creation, just jamming in the garden.” That’s the aim of the Inna de Yard project, which brings together the legends of Jamaican reggae to re-record their hits of yesteryear. But this time they're making acoustic versions in the garden of a beautiful mansion, together with a new generation. These gray-haired icons of the reggae world—Ken Boothe, Winston McAnuff and Kiddus I among them—may not be as lithe as they once were, but that does nothing to dampen their spirits. And then there’s the stream of stories about the glory years, back when they performed alongside the likes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

In this delightful and lively documentary, director Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring) mixes up recording sessions with scenes from the follow-up tour of Europe, and shows how gigantic reggae’s role has been in the history of Jamaica. One of the musicians sums it up perfectly: “Some countries got diamonds. Some got oil. We got reggae music.”