Africa Unite DVD Review

Africa Unite is a documentary detailing the late great Bob Marley’s family as they make their first trek to Ethiopia to attend the annual Africa Unite benefit, an event that commemorates Marley’s philosophy of love and music as a method of attaining peace. Filmed in 2005, the event also celebrates what would have been Bob Marley’s 60th birthday.

Africa Unite, named after a song by Bob Marley, is an annual event of music and dialog with the intention of inspiring Africa’s younger generations to move toward a united Africa for the benefit of the continent. The 2005 Africa Unite was overseen by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and actor Danny Glover, and features appearances by several other celebrities and luminaries including Bob Marley’s mother Mrs. Booker and fellow UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo. The event culminates in a 12-hour concert of Bob Marley music that was attended by over three hundred thousand people.

The film Africa Unite is part travelogue as it follows Marley brothers Ziggy and Stephen and their families as they make their trek to Ethiopia, part humanitarian documentary, and lastly it is a concert film, only not in that order.

People who are expecting a feature length concert film of Bob Marley music interrupted only briefly by the occasional snippet of documentary footage or political agenda, if the occasion strikes, will be disappointed. The film has roughly a 90-minute run time with barely ten or so minutes of that time depicting actual concert footage. Instead, the film adds approximately an hour of disjointed footage consisting of celebrities, politicians and youth activists enthusiastically discussing the potential benefits of a united Africa, declaring their manifestos with gusto. Despite these luminaries’ impassioned points of view, the message ends up being lost.

Despite everything the DVD is not a total loss. The Africa Unite organization does have an excellent purpose as it works to put an end to war and genocide in Africa. However, the real gem, besides supporting a good cause, lies within the special features menu. Included on the DVD is nearly an hour of additional concert footage. Footage presumably cut from the film. This footage includes performances from Bob Marley family members including sons Stephen, Julian and Ziggy Marley, his widow Rita and his mother Cedella Booker. Angelique Kidjo and I-Threes also perform Bob Marley hits in the bonus footage. The DVD also features private footage of Bob Marley performing Redemption Song shortly before he passed away. The DVD also features a photo gallery and excerpts from Africa Unite: Ghana. Lastly the DVD includes interviews with Marley brothers Ziggy, Stephen and Julian and widow Rita Marley.

This outstanding collection of special features makes the DVD Africa Unite worthwhile. Bob and Ziggy Marley fans will revel in the bonus footage. The concert footage featuring those closest to the revolutionary musician, performing his songs, makes the DVD worth its weight in gold, but to really up the ante, the DVD includes rare archival footage of Bob Marley as he performs one of his biggest songs in what appears to be a private session.

Africa Unite is presented in Widescreen and can be viewed in 5.1 stereo surround-sound.