CAST, crew, and specially invited guests were in attendance for the first viewing of Jamaican short feature film Sweet Yellow Heart at the New Kingston offices of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) on Monday, May 30.

“We’ve started the film festival process. We’re going to spend about a year entering the film into as many film festivals as we can, and we’re going to target festivals we believe would be a good fit. Those that focus on women, the Caribbean, focus on stories from the diaspora, just because we want to increase the chances of getting the film seen,” Danielle Russell, director/screen writer of the film, told the Jamaica Observer.

So far, Sweet Yellow Heart has been selected for the Golden Short Film Festival and the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival. After the film festival circuit, it will make its way to other distribution channels.

Sweet Yellow Heart is the second directorial feature from Russell, who graduated from film school in Beijing, China, and her third production. The movie was based on a short story from writer Michael Morrissey, from which Russell developed her script for her 29-minute feature. Funded by digital marketing agency Encouraging Social Influence; Redefining Online Marketing (ESIROM), the film took two days to shoot on location in Porus, Manchester, but took a year of both pre- and post-production.

“It wasn’t difficult to get the actors. It was quite an amazing process. We did everything from scratch. We had a casting call, part of which ESIROM leveraged their audience by sending out a call on their social media sites, as did I,” explained Russell.

The title of the short film refers to the local differentiation in breadfruits, which have either white or yellow inner flesh, and is also the preferred type enjoyed by the main character in the film. The symbolism is even more prevalent due to a breadfruit tree present in the fictional yard. Russell explained that the story of the film centres on family matriarch Miss Edna, played by actress Hilary Nicholson, and her struggle to reconnect with her grandson after the devastating revelation of a long held family secret.

“It’s a bittersweet film, and I think the themes presented in the story are themes that we see in everyday life in the Caribbean. I really did try to pull that out and show a side that we don’t talk about,” said Russell.

She added that she tried to pull on her own experiences to heighten the emotion and realism of the film to gain a better connection with the audience.

Actress Janine Coombs was happy to have seen the movie in its final form.

“This was my first movie acting role. I feel very proud about the production. I feel very happy and excited because it’s really great to have something that brings out cultural elements on Jamaica in it,” said Coombs.