Jan 4

Jan 4 Lara Verheijden

"Jamaica a Year Ago" is unapologetic, sincere, sweet and pretty; real, raw, girly and gritty. A self-exploration, (even sexploration) documentary by Lara Verheijden, this frank, fresh and fashionable young Love Tourist delivers a work that has her own signature no fuss no muss quality to it. At heart, there is an underlying softness, a searching empathy in the film-making, that feels uniquely female. If you want to talk cool factor, well, the film, as does Lara, oozes it; leopard print body suits, motorbikes, bucket hats, fluffy blonde hair, sexy tattoos, dreadlocks and dance hall moves. Is it funny? Enter Margarita, the spunky older housemate and self-declared lover of cock, or Amanda, camera girl and bestie with the braids. As for sweet, meet Andre, the lover. A poised and smitten local whom Lara documents to her heart's desire. The truth is, this movie is a lot of things. It addresses really important conversation-starting topics that I think are relevant, albeit controversial. Bottom line: I've watched it three times, how many times will you?