SINCE he first watched the movie Rockers as a 16-year-old, Japanese film-maker Masayuki Noda says he has been a fan of its main character, drummer Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace.

Noda was recently in Kingston filming a documentary on one of reggae’s most admired skin-beaters whose role in the 1978 low-budget film earned him a loyal cult following in Asia, Europe and North America.

Among those fans is 30-year-old Noda, who is originally from the city of Fukuoka but calls the Japanese capital, Tokyo, home. In a recent interview with the Observer, the bespectacled Noda spoke of Rockers’ impact on him.

“Before Rockers the only person in reggae I knew was Bob Marley. Through Rockers I got to know other reggae musicians like Horsemouth,” he said.

For his yet titled film, Noda and his cameraman interviewed Wallace, travelling to recording studios and hangouts the musician frequents. He also spoke to some of Wallace’s closest associates including deejay Jah Thomas and music producer Trevor ‘Leggo’ Douglas.

The documentary will also feature the downtown Kingston area of Orange Street, once the hub of Jamaica’s music industry.

A former student at the Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, Wallace was an established musician when he got the role in Rockers, which was directed and produced by Americans Ted Bafaloukos and Patrick Hulsey, respectively.

He played on Burning Spear’s first albums at Studio One in the late 1960s, and was a member of the Black Disciples band that backed the singer on his seminal Marcus Garvey set in 1975.

In a 2002 interview with the Observer, Wallace said he met Bafaloukos while touring Europe in 1976. The latter told him about a reggae movie he was working on and asked if he (Wallace) was interested in a part.

Released in 1978, Rockers had an all-star reggae cast headed by Wallace.

His co-stars included singers Kiddus-I, Gregory Isaacs and Jacob Miller, bass player Robbie Shakespeare and saxophonist Richard ‘Dirty Harry’ Hall.

Wallace played a struggling musician who takes on the establishment after years of being exploited by producers. Rockers was not a massive hit, but retains an underground following in reggae circles.

Masayuki Noda is a graduate of Seinan University where he majored in economics. He has worked in television and on soundtracks in Japan.

After editing, he expects his documentary on Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace to be 90 minutes long with release scheduled for late this year.