Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande

Play trailer

Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande

2024

1h 33m

Documentary

Music

Biography

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

100%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Cymande, a group of Black British musicians who all came to the U.K. from the Caribbean as children, released three brilliant albums in quick succession in the early 1970s and were embraced in the USA. But in the U.K., they faced a music business beset by prejudice against homegrown Black talent and were largely ignored. They originally split in 1975, but their music lived on, as successive generations of artists and fans found and embraced their songs. Hip Hop, House, Drum and Bass, R&B, Rare Groove, and crate-digging communities all saw something in the songs of Cymande that inspired them.

Daniel Joyaux

IndieWire

07/25/2024

C-

Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande is halfway decent as a story about Cymande, but it’s sadly not even close to the story of Cymande.

Go to Full Review

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

02/18/2024

2/5

Aims for a Buena Vista Social Club-style story of late-life rediscovery but gets a little bogged down in a few too many hagiographic quotes from high-profile fans.

Go to Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

02/14/2024

4/5

This documentary is an education and a good-news story about the remarkable 70s British funk band Cymande (the word is a calypso term for “dove”) who should be as big as Earth Wind & Fire, but aren’t.

Go to Full Review

Andy Klein

FilmWeek (LAist)

08/28/2024

[The beginning and end] are both wonderful, but you do have to put up with too many people being interviewed.

Go to Full Review

Carla Hay

Culture Mix

07/26/2024

If you want to know why the 1970s British band Cymande didn't become as well-known as American counterparts such as Parliament-Funkadelic, this illuminating documentary tells a fascinating, heart-wrenching, and informative story.

Go to Full Review

Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

07/26/2024

It’s mostly notable for how it shows the positive value that sampling and the internet have both had on once-obscure or forgotten old bands like Cymande.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Yusuf

07/28/2024

Uplifting story for long time fans and those who may never even have heard of Cymande

See more

Aaron T

07/28/2024

Fantastic, moving story of a band youve likely heard but may not recognize. Anyone who has been moved by music will find something to love in this film.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Tim Mackenzie-Smith

Director

Cymande

Self

Masta Ace

Self

Mark Ronson

Self

Little Louie Vega

Self

Kool DJ Red Alert

Self

Little Richard: I Am Everything

94%

98%

Little Richard: I Am Everything

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Little Richard: I Am Everything

The World According to Allee Willis

100%

%

The World According to Allee Willis

Watchlist

Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd

100%

88%

Have You Got It Yet? The Story of Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd

Watchlist

Hung up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary

92%

100%

Hung up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Hung up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary

The Rose: Come Back to Me

100%

100%

The Rose: Come Back to Me

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Cymande, a group of Black British musicians who all came to the U.K. from the Caribbean as children, released three brilliant albums in quick succession in the early 1970s and were embraced in the USA. But in the U.K., they faced a music business beset by prejudice against homegrown Black talent and were largely ignored. They originally split in 1975, but their music lived on, as successive generations of artists and fans found and embraced their songs. Hip Hop, House, Drum and Bass, R&B, Rare Groove, and crate-digging communities all saw something in the songs of Cymande that inspired them.

Director: Tim Mackenzie-Smith
Producer: Tim Mackenzie-Smith, Matt Wyllie
Distributor: Abramorama
Production Co: Crawshay Films
Genre: Documentary, Music, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 5, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 33m