“The joyful sensuality of the soundtrack and dancers is irresistible, the characters are comic or villainous but winning, and the no-frills borderline crudity fits and intensifies the whole.”
—ReelTalk

“This simplistic but high-spirited and colorful Jamaican film tells the story of a humble street vendor who finds an unusual way of getting her family out of the harrowing violence-ridden ghetto she lives in.”
—Variety

This infectious Jamaican low-budget reggae film veers between hard-bitten realism and the logic of the musical. A female street vendor trying to make ends meet on the mean streets of Kingston goes incognito as a dancehall superhero called the Mystery Lady to win a dance contest and attain financial stability for herself and her daughter. This program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

About this series:

Film producer Carolyn Pfeiffer has led a remarkable life — working for European stars Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon, forming her own publicity company with such clients as Robert Redford and the Beatles, helping to revolutionize the American independent film scene in the ’70s and ’80s, and even producing two of the most successful Jamaican films of all time. It is such an interesting life, in fact, that she has written a new memoir, Chasing the Panther: Adventures and Misadventures of a Cinematic Life. She will join us for this special weekend to talk about her many cinematic adventures and will sign copies of the book. This program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.