A documentary about home.
Green Hills is both the name of the house in which I grew up in Jamaica, and the story of returning to it in 2015 with my brother. It was our first trip back since we left as kids in 1991, and the house was, especially for me, frozen in time from that point on. In this way, the film explores not only revisiting a physical place, but also a former self who at once grew from and remained in that context.
Reclaiming a childhood self.
I identified strongly with Green Hills as a child, particularly its three acres of tropical land. Leaving it for England at aged nine was something of a severance, my first real experience of significant loss. It felt as if I’d left a spectral proxy on the island, some nebulous yet essential part of myself who could not bear to leave, and so stayed put while my body flew overseas. Making this film was the only way I knew to reclaim that part, by bringing her back to England with me in a way that was impossible in childhood.
A labour of love.
I’d wanted to make a film about returning to Jamaica since I was about 19, but it took me until the age of 33 to begin to make the vision a reality, through fundraising events and a successful crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs of production (which ran from April-May 2015). There was, however, no money for post-production, which the film was in for seven years, as I and our incredible cinematographers and editors, Ren Forrest and Stephanie Tasker, had to fit completing Green Hills around paid work.
A life of its own.
In October 2022, we had our first (and to date, our only) private screening, to share Green Hills with our backers, family and friends. It was very well received. Now we’re still thinking about how to make sure our labour of love is seen by more people, which may well mean further screenings and, ultimately, making it available online. Green Hills has always had a heartbeat ― it deserves to have a life of its own. In the meantime, if you’d like to find out more about the project, please feel free to get in touch.