Black Mother

Filmmaker Khalik Allah will attend in person for discussion with local filmmaker Chico Colvard, Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at Massachusetts College of Art & Design

Part film, part baptism, in Black Mother director Khalik Allah brings us on a spiritual exploration through Jamaica. Soaking up its bustling metropolises and tranquil countryside, Allah introduces us to a succession of vividly rendered souls who call this island home. Their candid testimonies create a polyphonic symphony, set against a visual prayer of indelible portraiture. Immersed into the sacred, the profane, and everything in-between, Black Mother channels rebellion and reverence into a deeply personal ode informed by Jamaica’s turbulent history but existing in the urgent present.

Director’s Statement:

“A proclamation, a poem and a prayer punctuated by three trimesters; BLACK MOTHER is an audio-visual love letter to Jamaica.

I shot my last film in the streets. I shot this one on a river.

Everything in the film is connected through water; from the fruit to the land to the people, with a specific emphasis on the woman who carries life for nine months.

There’s no container for this film, it overflows with intimate portraiture and
prayers that are intended to hit you in the chest more than the head.

A form of herbal remedy consisting of proclamations from Maroon warriors.

A historical mirror shot on 16mm. Also Super 8, Hi-8 Tape, Mini DV and HD
Video. An exercise in style and aesthetic to showcase my range as a photographer.

A magnifier and mirror of modern day Jamaica reflecting its complicated history.

A generous singular vision depicted through the lens of family and spirituality.” -Khalik Allah

“BLACK MOTHER is a lyrical tribute to mothers and the motherland — and a dismantling of colonial structures both in form and content… Allah has created a work of art that is alive in a way few films dare to be.” – Cedar Sherbert / AFI Fest

“Some films are likened to essays. This one is more of an epic poem: a raw, dense, impressionistic odyssey through Jamaican identity, national, personal and spiritual.” – The Guardian

Nominee for the New Vision Award at CPH:DOX. Winner of the Prix de l’expérimentation at the Montréal Festival of New Cinema. Official Selection of New Directors/New Films and the True/False Film Fest