Shake it, Caribbean style

Musicians from the Caribbean countries of Antigua and Barbados and Surinam.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The Antiguan band El-A-Kru, and Rupee, a musician from Barbados, will bring the sounds of soca, which is a music style that originated from Trinidad and Tobago in the 1970s and has absorbed influences from funk, soul and Indian music.

Since this is the China-Latin America and Caribbean 2016 Year of Culture Exchange, more Caribbean culture is being celebrated in Beijing.

Besides music, audiences will have a chance to learn more about Caribbean world by watching 12 movies of Caribbean countries during the inaugural Caribbean Film Festival, which will be held from May 6-8 at the Cervantes Institute.

One of the movies is Finding Samuel Lowe－From Harlem to China, a documentary from Jamaica that revolves around media entrepreneur Paula Williams Madison and her two brothers' humble beginnings in Harlem with their Chinese-Jamaican mother. They embark on a journey, from Toronto to Jamaica to China, seeking their heritage while searching for their long-lost grandfather, Samuel Lowe.

Other movies on the list include Trailblazers: The Mychal Thompson Story, which follows the story of retired Bahamian-American basketball legend Mychal Thompson, who is now a talk-show host, and Chinese Girl, a documentary from Trinidad and Tobago, which portrays 12 Caribbean-Chinese women from all walks of life.