Out Deh – The Youth of Jamaica (Louis Josek, 2019): Jamaica

Reviewed by Benjamin Bearman at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

Filled with the truth of Jamaican youth, this documentary follows a handful of talented, driven young men who aspire to be bigger than the island. These men have goals of traveling to far reaches of the world on the backs of their talents. The film is comprised of super 8 and digital footage with shots mixed of wide landscape scenes and documentary-style follow cam. The sound production quality of the music is well done in this film. The dub reggae that introduces the film is a quality that feels very natural.

This film follows the budding paths of these devoted individuals as they continue to put in the work they believe it takes to make it. The first man, who has many talents including surfing and skateboarding, is unsure which is the right talent to discipline and progress in. Ultimately, he ends up committing to surfing. The Second man, a rapper, is quoted,

“I would have been stopped if I didn’t believe in me. Don’t listen to those who say you can’t. Why not? If I am successful for me, I can put on for the people around me.”

– Cut to black. –

Cuts to a drone shot over Japan signifying his inevitable reach beyond Jamaica and the beginning of him fulfilling his world traveling dreams. The movie was set up with great nuggets of motivation a perseverance, as the rapper speaks about having to feel the energy that you put out there.

This film, their passions, started as something they decided on doing and seeing how far they can go with… Where they can take it. If the journey keeps presenting itself, you might as well go for it.

Outdeh won an award for Best Music Documentary at The 2019 Byron Bay International Film festival which is captivating throughout the film. With the right sound system you can feel the sound waves of the music. The use of color is prominent in the film with blue relating to the surfer and red pertaining to the rapper. This is best portrayed through the use of underwater housing unit for the camera to film the underwater surf shots. When the camera would submerge the rapper’s music, which was now playing over the surfers footage, would be muffled and when breaching the water the music would raise volume and play clear.

The surfer completes his first dream of surfing and competing in Hawaii’s Pipeline surf contest event. This is something he’s always wanted so not going was not an option. As he is out on the water a fellow surfer calls out “Out Deh!” and jumps into the ocean. The surfer catches the biggest wave we’ve seen him on in this film. At least triple over head.. or three feet Hawaiian.

The closing credits closing out credits roll across wide landscape shots of Jamaica while dub reggae plays.