Canadian-Jamaican film ‘When Morning Comes’ a homecoming

On the eve of Canada Day celebrations in Jamaica last week Wednesday, the Jamaican-Canadian film When Morning Comes enjoyed its glitzy, international premiere at GATFFEST (Greater August Town Film Festival) in front of a full house of cast, crew, well-wishers, critics and dignitaries at the Palace Cineplex in Sovereign Centre.

A debut feature film for director Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, the premiere had the full support of the Canadian High Commission, led by High Commissioner Emina Tudakovic.

“We are thrilled to present the international premiere of When Morning Comes at the GATFFEST. This film beautifully captures the complexities of familial relationships and showcases the rich talent of Canadian and Jamaican film-makers, fostering cultural exchange and strengthening the bond between our nations,” Tudakovic said.

Fyffe-Marshall, who was busy running between interviews, photo ops and keeping a motherly eye on the younger members of her cast, must have been exhausted, but she could not contain her joy at what was a homecoming on so many levels.

“I’m just happy to bring it back to the people who put so much work and love into it. It comes home to Jamaica as much as I am Jamaican-Canadian-British,” said Fyffe-Marshall, who is acknowledged as a film-maker who is “making powerfully impactful films”.

She added, “I’m happy with how people reacted to it … the laughter, the cries, the cheers. You never know how people are going to react to your film. We had a screening in Toronto with a lot of Jamaican-Canadians and I heard laughing the whole way through. I was hoping that it would be the same here, and so I am super thankful that people laughed and cried.”

She shared that When Morning Comes – which is set in Kingston, Jamaica, in the year 2001 – was shot from March to April 2022 over a period of 22 days, using locations in Trelawny and Portland.

“It was a way for me to show the beauty of Jamaica not only in stories, but also the vast lushness of what Jamaica has,” Fyffe-Marshall said. And actually, from the impressive opening montage, that was evident.

When Morning Comes tells the story of 10-year-old Jamal (Djamari Roberts), who lives with his widowed mother Neesha (Shaquana Wilson) in a rural community in Portland. His mother’s decision to send him to live in Canada with his grandmother for a better life is cause for heartache for them both. A prequel, it ends with Jamal’s arrival in Canada.

In 2001, at age 10, Fyffe-Marshall migrated, so in a real sense it is also her own story.

“As an artist, you are always trying to get out a story … and this is a story about a mother’s sacrifice; and I wanted to tell that story about immigration. Canada is 25 per cent immigrants. My cast from Toronto is all Canadian-Jamaicans, so it was about coming back to make our parents proud, make our grandparents proud,” Fyffe-Marshall said.

With a satisfied smile, she elaborated, “So, my grandfather gets to watch this movie. Some of my other movies, it’s like ‘Cho, mi nuh waan watch dat.’ But when he comes to watch this, he sees himself ... the little boy that he was.”

VISUAL ARCHITECT

Her bio states that she is interested in being the visual architect behind stories about the Caribbean diaspora and of her Jamaican heritage, and last Wednesday evening she vowed, “Anything I can do to tell the... authentic stories of Jamaica, I will do that.”

Associate producer and acting coach on the project, Donisha Rita Claire Prendergast, gave kudos to Fyffe-Marshall, and shared a bit about the genesis of the project.

“Kelly is a very talented film-maker and we have worked on a number of projects in Canada, quietly. She reached out to me in January 2020 … I was newly pregnant … and said she had some ideas and she might be able to get some possible funding, and she wanted me to help her build out the story because she knows that I am good at character work and that sort of thing. So, a lot of the core concept, that story creation was done in my living room on that night. Many of these characters exist from a longer time than now. When I look back at how far they are … there are elements of characters that were created in 2013, but are only now just finding a way to breathe,” Prendergast said.

The granddaughter of Bob Marley “saw it as an opportunity to have a conversation about a very nuanced experience we are having as black people right now”.

“This whole conversation about diaspora, what does it mean for identity? What does it mean as we navigate different spaces? Who are we? When we go to Canada, we have to call ourselves Canadian-Jamaican. Now we have to sign a paper that says that we are Canadian, but the core elements of us reside here. So we get a chance to see what that is like on screen. And also to deal with things like class ... bullying ... conversations about politics, regular things that kids are hearing and have to find a way to translate.”

Noting that When Morning Comes is “a great effort; a great first film”, Prendergast lauded the Jamaican crew for an exceptional job, given the limited resources.

“It was right on the tail end of COVID and things were kinda different and new, but we found a way to make it happen. This homecoming, as Kelly said, this isn’t the final feature, it is just a sneak peek. We did a great job and there is a lot of capacity for growth, and I am very excited for more work to be coming out of us,” she declared.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com