Mike Connolly
2021Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music
Mike Connolly
Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley
Three part BBC series about the history of Jamaican music and it's influence on modern charts in the UK and America. Traces the story of how Caribbean island conquered the world through its music. With interviews and commentary from reggae legends as well as people on the ground, Lloyd Bradley takes up the story from the late 1950s and the development of ska, then follows the music’s journey overseas in the 1960s. But it was in the 1970s that reggae exploded into an international phenomenon with the super-stardom of Bob Marley and artists like Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, and Third World. Since then, reggae has continued to reinvent itself as a powerful musical and cultural force.
Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music
Elvis: The Rebirth of the King
Mike Connolly
Elvis Presley, Steve Binder
The widely accepted Elvis narrative is that the Vegas period was the nadir of his career, but this film argues that Elvis reached his peak both as a singer and performer in the first few years of his Vegas period. He became, in those short years, the greatest performer on earth. The film tracks this five-year renaissance with some of his key musical and artistic collaborators of the period, including the creator of his most memorable jumpsuits, to celebrate the greatest pop reinvention of all time.
Elvis: The Rebirth of the King
DeLorean: Back from the Future
Mike Connolly
John Z. DeLorean, Jeremy Paxman
John Z DeLorean’s extraordinary and doomed attempt to build the sports car of the future in 1980s Northern Ireland is the stuff of legend. A buccaneering American entrepreneur, DeLorean had film star looks, a famous fashion model as a wife, and an enormous ego that drove him to rival the giants of the US car industry.
DeLorean: Back from the Future
The Irish Rock Story: A Tale of Two Cities
Mike Connolly
Bob Geldof, Bono
This musical celebration charts the lives and careers of some of the biggest selling acts in Irish rock, punk and pop from Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy to The Undertones and U2. From the pioneers of the showbands touring in the late 50s through to the modern day, the film examines their lineage and connections and how the hardcore, rocking sound of Belfast merged with the more melodic, folky Dublin tradition to form what we now recognise as Irish rock and pop.
The Irish Rock Story: A Tale of Two Cities
Roberta Flack: Killing Me Softly
Mike Connolly
Roberta Flack, Cissy Houston
A documentary following the atypical path of soul singer Roberta Flack and her rise to fame, set against the turbulent backdrop of America's Civil Rights movement. Features interviews with Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis and Cissy Houston.
Roberta Flack: Killing Me Softly