Get familiar with the new generation of British-Jamaican filmmakers

For filmmaker Joseph Douglas Elmhirst, untangling the complexities of his British-Jamaican heritage has always been a major point of interest.

Born in Notting Hill, West London, Joseph has been based in New York since he was 14. Now 26, and with two short films under his belt, he’s gearing up for Dead Lef: Visions of Contemporary Jamaica – Vol. 2, a screening on 10^th September which celebrates the voices of the Jamaican diaspora. For the occasion, he’s recruited seven directors of Jamaican descent to show their short films at The Ritzy cinema in Brixton, alongside his own, Burnt Milk, and a Q&A by British-Jamaican designer Bianca Saunders. It’s a family affair, for sure – one that feels close to home.

“Dead lef is patois for inherited belongings following someone’s death,” Joseph explains. ​“There’s very little infrastructure and support for Caribbean film, so the idea was to curate a programme that explored inherited Jamaican identity, bridging the gap between the diaspora and Jamaican-born directors in the process. ​“I also wanted to find filmmakers that were trying to create their own visual language while subverting any sense of colonial fantasy that surrounds the island.”

Joseph’s 2023 short Burnt Milk, which follows an alienated Jamaican woman in ​’80s London, was a success: premiering at the Venice Biennale that same year, it travelled around the world to over 30 film festivals, picking up awards at Black Harvest and Humboldt. He now feels compelled to pay this forward. ​“Burnt Milk is a Windrush story, so it’s powerful to show it in Brixton, and at The Ritzy,” Joseph says. ​“And to be able to show alongside these filmmakers is an honour.”

Also on the bill: James Jordan Johnson’s Libation; Sasha Gay Lewis’ The Incursion; Darryl Daley’s Youlogy /​No Ghosts, Nathan Miller’s God Bless You, My Son; Ania Freer’s Strictly Two Wheel; Ryan Eccleston’s Jonkonnu Nuh Dead and Morgan Quaintance’s Early Years. It’s a melting pot selection of emerging and established talent, all of which grapple with things that have been passed down, whether that’s heritage, spirituality or craft.

And as is custom for each of his screenings, Joseph will kick things off with a BBC clip of his granddad, Rev David Douglas, speaking. ​“It’s from a documentary made in 1977,” he says. ​“They went to Watford to interview Windrush Pentecostals, and it mostly followed [my grandfather]. It gave me so much insight into his experience, the way he’d been exploited and the way his political activism intersected with his faith.

“His generation were made to feel so ashamed of their roots. He was denied the ability to preach in churches when he arrived because of his heritage. I don’t think he felt heard in his lifetime, so to be able to share his words to an audience 50 years later… I hope it gives him some peace.”

Next stop: Jamaica, for Dead Lef Vol.3. ​“I’ve also been shooting a documentary in New Orleans, which I’ll go back to after the screening. And I’ve been working on a Caribbean contemporary art book, Duppy. There are some other things in the works, too, but most of my energy is going towards my first narrative feature. That’s what I dream about, for sure.” We’d also suggest a well-earned holiday, even though for Joseph, there’s no place like home.