Black Mother (2018 Feature Film) Nominee

What makes Jamaica so special, multicultural, raw and spiritual? New Yorker Khalik Allah’s visual prayer and ode bares the Caribbean country’s soul in wonderfully unpolished, analog images. Jamaica – blessed with fertile soil, yet cursed with a horrific history of slavery – proves a veritable melting pot of cultures, religions and traditions.

In this artistic documentary, Allah gives Jamaicans the opportunity to share their dreams and wisdom, but also to talk about the harsh everyday reality. His characteristic, analog shots are accompanied by a soundtrack that is sometimes juxtaposed with the images, yet the two always seem seamlessly aligned. The self-taught photographer and filmmaker portrays contemporary Jamaicans in a particularly honest fashion. From young streetwalkers and streetwise rappers to Rastafarians, mothers, agricultural laborers and devout church girls. Allah has subdivided his film into the trimesters of a pregnancy. Life’s key elements come together in Black Mother.