Jeremy Relph is best known for reporting on conflicts across the globe for The New Yorker. For his latest project, the Canadian journalist teamed up with Kingston-based director Nile Saulter to explore a more spirited subject—the connection between church and dancehall culture in Jamaica. Here, he talks about how the project came about:

“On the surface, the worlds of church and dancehall are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Everblessed is a meditation on the sacred and the profane and the thin line between them.

“On the surface, the worlds of church and dancehall are at opposite ends of the spectrum”

“I spent time in Jamaica between covering conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya. The film was born from the idea of unity in a world that continually insists on either/or, this-or-that binary propositions. Spending time in these supposed separate worlds, I saw that the links extend beyond the obviousness of shared ritual, and instead are bonded in their beauty and rooted in humanity.”