Driver Radio: Jamaica

Jamaican-American twins explore what it means to live between two cultures — with help from the island nation’s local taxi drivers.

Hands on van steering wheel.
Series
Independent Lens
Premiere Date
September 21, 2020
Length
35:00 minutes
Funding Initiative
Short-Form Open Call
  • Nominated laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2021 Micheaux Film Festival-Outstanding Unscripted Digital Series
    • filmmaker Ron Brodie
    Co-Director

    Ron Brodie

    Director Ron Brodie is a Jamaican raised culture junkie hailing from the Nation’s Capital, Washington DC. Having obtained his BA in Film and Television from Howard University, Ron currently resides and works in New York City. Ron's base for creating stories come from, 'telling the stories that mainstream media ignores is my moral obligation. Over the… Show more years Ron has had the pleasure of serving as a narrative artist and director in New York’s creative advertising industry. Ron's portfolio is made up of a diverse line of commercials, music video’s, and branded content. In addition to commercials, Ron’s also directed a full-length skate film called We Out Here as a homage to New York’s black skate community. As a filmmaker, Ron strives to share untold and underrepresented stories. Show less

    filmmaker Don Brodie
    Co-Director

    Don Brodie

    Don Brodie was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He resides in New York City as a photographer and filmmaker. He imagines his editorial work as a means of recording time, creating narratives, and evoking thought. not limited to reality, this work rather deals in concepts; ones that are often evolving into bigger pictures and continuously striving to do so… Show more with an in-depth and thought-provoking perspective. Show less

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    The Film

    Ron and Don Brodie, twin brothers and first-generation Americans raised in Washington, D.C., grew up making family visits to Jamaica. Inspired by the road trips they used to take there as children, the Brodies return to the island as adults, only to discover a development of new highways and a rapidly changing way of life. The friends and family members who once dreamed of fast, flashy cars have begun driving taxis for profit instead, transporting millions of locals and the tourists who arrive each year. In this four-episode series, Ron and Don join these drivers as they retrace the same routes the brothers traveled as children, sharing off-the-beaten-path stories through the lens of the country’s vibrant taxi culture. Along the way, the brothers reconnect with their roots and explore what it means to straddle two identities.

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