Winston McAnuff Electric Dread

A film by Gilles Le Mao

Winston McAnuff, nicknamed “Electric Dread”, makes his comeback on the "old white Europe" after many years of silence. This is his concert on the stage at the French world music festival Les Escales de Saint-Nazaire.

Winston McAnuff was born in the hills of Jamaica in 1957. Nicknamed “Electric Dread”, reggae was ingrained in his life from an early age.
On stage at the French world music festival Les Escales  Saint-Nazaire, this pastor’s son steps beyond his role as Rastafarian preacher, performing with a fiery spirit that is as distinctive as it is jovial. He runs across the stage, lectures the crowd, and rolls around joyfully on the floor. But where does his boundless energy come from after so many years of silence? How does McAnuff share his memories and beliefs with the “old white Europe”, where he makes his comeback thanks to the Makasound label?

In contrast to his stage charisma, we share moments with him in an intimate setting, seated and relaxed. Against a neutral backdrop of a stage under construction, guitar in hand, he recounts stories about Rasta culture. His words and prayers evoke poetry from far-off Jamaica, the land of his first musical inspiration and his first life-changing encounters. Even though this great island is far away, the ghosts of elders are ever-present. Electric Dread philosophizes…