About Us

ABOUT SPIRIT OF '38 PRODUCTIONS

We don't wait for permission.

Spirit of '38 Productions is an independent documentary film house. Built outside the system. Running on our own terms. We preserve and amplify the political and social histories of the Caribbean—the ones mainstream media ignores, sanitizes, or buries.

No studio suits. No gatekeepers. Just truth, research, and film.

We produce meticulously researched visual narratives that challenge conventional perspectives and give a platform to the voices of the Jamaican and broader Caribbean diaspora. Every frame chosen by us. Every interview earned by us. Every edit fought for by us. Total creative control. From concept to completion. In our hands.

THE NAME

'38. Two dates. One spirit.

1838—Full emancipation from slavery. The chains officially broken, though the fight continued.

1938—The Jamaican labor rebellions. Workers rising up. The spark that ignited modern self-determination across the Caribbean.

We carry that legacy forward through film. Not asking for approval. Not waiting for validation. Making sure these historical lessons reach the people who need them, now and for the generations coming behind.

RICHARD AUDLEY VAUGHAN — FOUNDER & LEAD FILMMAKER

Award-winning independent filmmaker. Visual historian. Based in Oakland, CA. Son of the Jamaican diaspora.

Richard doesn't ask permission. He picks up the camera and he reclaims history.

His work dissects complex political landscapes. Uncovers the human stories behind revolutionary movements. Does it himself—researcher, director, editor, distributor. All of it. No committee. No executives demanding cuts. No dilution of vision.

Awards from the Madrid International Filmmaker Festival. Awards from the Amsterdam Film Festival. Recognition comes from uncompromising artistic integrity and grassroots authenticity. Rigorous research meets radical commitment to cultural and political education.

The most powerful documentaries don't come from institutions. They come from people who refuse to ask for permission.

OUR FILMOGRAPHY

ACTS OF HISTORICAL RECLAMATION

• THE PRICE OF LOVE: CHEDDI JAGAN (2024)—An unflinching look at the Guyanese leader's decades-long struggle against colonial machinations and international political pressures.

• FOUR YEARS OF LOVE: THE GRENADE REVOLUTION (2021)—A testament to building a new social order in Grenada, and the external forces that crushed it.

• ROLLING ALONG: AN INLINE MOVEMENT (2017)—A dialectical analysis of urban subculture. Community and social potential inside the global inline skating movement.

• THE WORD IS LOVE: JAMAICA'S MICHAEL MANLEY (2012)—A critical examination of Jamaica's fourth Prime Minister. Champion for the people. Cold War era challenges. Power and resistance captured on film.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Art. Advocacy. Independence.

History isn't dead. It's alive. Our films document it and weaponize it. Record of the past. Call to action for the present.

We document struggles for independence and social justice. We want people to understand the Caribbean's enduring impact on the global stage—how it shaped the world, how it continues to shape it.

We don't wait for funding approvals. We don't wait for gatekeeper validation. We make the work that needs to exist.

Resources we mobilize ourselves. Vision we protect ourselves. Distribution channels we build ourselves.

That's the spirit of '38. Self-reliance. Defiance. Stories worth telling are the ones told by people who carry them in their bones.

Explore our collection. Join the journey. Historical reclamation. Cultural empowerment.

Or don't. But the work will continue anyway.