Winston Duke and Marianne Jean-Baptiste are joining Delroy Lindo for Jabari’s People. Marking Lindo’s feature directorial debut, the family drama follows a gifted but rebellious Brooklyn teenager who is sent to live with his estranged grandparents in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains following the sudden death of his mother.
Winston Duke, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Wendell Pierce and rising actor Seyi Andes-Pelumi are starring alongside Delroy Lindo in Jabari’s People, a Jamaican-set family drama that is serving as the directorial debut for the Oscar-nominated Sinners star.
The feature recently wrapped production in Kingston, Jamaica, after completing a 22-day shoot.
“I’ve had a pinch me moments as actors have had turned in performances or said lines in a certain way that was on the page,” Lindo told The Hollywood Reporter in a call from the set. “They’re bringing the actual words to life. I’m pinching myself and saying, ‘Oh, it’s really happening.'”
Written by Daoud Abeid and Dakhil Hausif, the intergenerational family drama is set between Brooklyn and Jamaica’s Blue Mountains and centers on Jabari, a gifted but defiant Brooklyn teenager who is sent to live with his estranged grandparents following the sudden death of his mother. Per the production notes, what begins as exile becomes an unexpected journey through grief, family, identity and inheritance as the land and community force Jabari, and three generations of his family, to confront wounds that have long gone unspoken.
With a story spanning Brooklyn and Jamaica, Jabari’s People brings together an accomplished ensemble that also includes Seyi Andes-Pelumi and Wendell Pierce. The project marks a new chapter for Lindo as he steps behind the camera to direct his first feature film.
