Donisha finds herself in 'Rasta'...

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

On her search for self-discovery and greater understanding of Rastafari, Donisha Prendergast has done a documentary called Rasta.

The film, which has been in production for eight years, saw Prendergast travelling to various places around the world in her quest for greater knowledge.

Prendergast, who is the granddaughter of Bob Marley and daughter of Sharon Marley, said she decided to take on the journey to know Rastafari.

"It is important when you decide to stand for something, you know what it's all about. If I was just to depend on what my eyes see, I would have a very skewed picture of Rastafari. I had to do my own travelling to uncover the roots and the evolution of the movement from Ethiopia, to Jamaica, and beyond. Through travelling, I was able to see just how important a film of this nature could possibly be to a generation searching for a greater understanding of self, like me."

Though he did not influence her decision to make the 90-minute film, Prendergast said the experience helped her to learn more about Bob Marley.

"I learnt a lot more about my grandfather along this journey. He never left me, especially in the moments when I needed reassurance about what I was doing, a random song would be playing nearby or a T-shirt with a message. It's not a film about him, It's a film about the thing that inspired his Spirit; Rastafari."

Help for film

Initially, Prendergast said the film was being done with personal resources but eventually she got help from Patricia Scarlett, who is a Jamaica-born film producer and distributor, as well as owner of Scarlett Media. In addition, there was an online fund-raising campaign that provided additional funds.

During her journey, Prendergast visited places like South Africa, Israel, Ethiopia, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and travelled throughout Jamaica. At every stop, Prendergast said she learnt something new about Rastafari.

In South Africa, she found several types of Rastafarians, while in Israel she found that her grandfather's songs Redemption Song and One Love had been institutionalised and were part of the curriculum for schools.

In a place called Shashamene in Ethiopia, she said the language is evolving to a new form that they are calling 'Jamharic', which is a combination of the national language Amharic and 'Jamaican language' or Patois. This, she said, is as a result of the Jamaican community who left in the early '70s, who started families and became integrated into the community.

"Each place has a different piece of history to contribute.Also, different images of Rastafari. In that, Rastafari has been immersed into each country's culture, and is expressed with an individuality," she told The Sunday Gleaner, adding that she would have gone to more places if more funds were available.

"This journey, I believe, activated something inside of me. It has helped me understand Rasatafari in practical terms, not just a romantic movement of red, gold and green, marijuana, and reggae music. But a calling to shine light for Africa, and strengthen the minds of her children to know their beauty and worth."

Prendergast said the experience was a humbling one "because you come face-to-face with human existence in forms you don't experience every day. India for example, was vivid with colours and activity, but there was poverty and an overwhelming weight of humanity that comes with a few days spent there."

Stronger backbone

A learning experience as well, Prendergast said: "Rastafari has helped me to grow a stronger backbone 'cause there is a lot of work to do. And Haile Selassie I is a divine being through the aspiration of peace and love for humanity. He must be hailed whenever we speak of Rastafari and reggae music, because we are the soldiers of his message."

Already, there has been a private screening of the film at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In addition, it was also launched on October 18 and 20 at The Festival du Nouveau in Montreal. Prendergast also hopes the film will be screened in Nigeria, Berlin and India before the end of the year.

"We have gotten very positive responses and observations from a variety of perspectives. For young people, they say it was very informative and inspiring, and for the older people, nostalgic and eye-opening. They really had no idea, the kind of persecution Rasta had to go through in the early days, but left with a greater respect for the movement," Prendergast told The Sunday Gleaner.

Going forward, the young woman said she knows the film will do exactly what it was meant to do in time.

"I hope it will resonate in the hearts of people all over the world, and inspire a generation and more to have a greater understanding of self, and the importance of the 'journey' and a clearer insight and respect for Rastafari, but it is not up to me anymore," Prendergast said.