Nine-year-old Jamal (a radiant Djamari Roberts) is getting bullied at school and his mum — a widow — decides she needs to get him out of Jamaica and educated in Canada, with his grandmother. Only one problem: Jamal is not on board. And writer-director Kelly Fyffe-Marshall paints such a warm, authentic, loving picture of Jamaica, you can see his point. Over the course of the movie he takes a fond farewell to favourite people and places, and Fyffe-Marshall’s personal investment in capturing the community spirit of this pre-digital era is palpable. DP Jordan Oram works wonders here, while Shaquana Wilson ably conveys the distress of Jamal’s mom, Neesha, faced with the most difficult decision she will ever have to make. This is a small movie, perhaps, but it offers a fresh reverse angle on the story of immigration.
Kelly Fyffe-Marshall
Djamari RobertsDjamari Roberts, Shaquana Wilson, Jarden Crooks
Jamaica/Canada
2023
19+
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Screenwriter
Kelly Fyffe-Marshall
Cinematography
Jordan Oram
Editor
Nicole Sison
Production Design
Rachelle Williams