Ackee and Saltfish relates to the inherent cultural tension between an immigrant Caribbean-raised mother and her two boys as she prepares them for a life in a new country.

While combating the struggles of single-motherhood, Hilda is simultaneously attempting to sustain their cultural roots seeded deeply in Jamaican culture.

In the narrative, Hilda cooks her sons a traditional Jamaican meal, Ackee and Saltfish, which they greet with disgust, as they are more entranced with watching English football than eating unfamiliar cuisine from their homeland. Hilda grows despondent as she fears her boys’ Caribbean identity is slipping away: anglicized by their new life in London. The story shares deep importance to the director, Jasmin, as it is an homage to her deceased grandmother, Hilda, who emigrated from Jamaica to New York in the 1940s.

Immigration narratives are commonly viewed through a lens of extremity, with national and international implications. Conversely, Ackee and Saltfish embraces the unseen, quiet tensions experienced by all immigrating families.