Sugar Island

ESCENA25
About the film:
Sugar Island is the story of Makenya (Yelidá Díaz). She is a 16-year-old girl who gets pregnant at the worst time possible: when her family is about to lose their house. Themes of colonialism, sexism, and racism merge in this gorgeous drama, putting a very needed emphasis in the unfairness of theobsolete system of the “batey,” a community of sugarcane workers, where Makenya lives with her mother Filomena (Ruth Emeterio) and her grandfather (Juan Maria Almonte).
Director/co-screenwriter Johanné Gómez Terrero, who shot the film in her hometown of San Pedro de Macorís, manages the plight of these sugarcane workers, who stand to lose their pensions due to these new developments in the name of progress and efficiency, with a foray into Afro-Dominican spirituality.
Afrofuturistic imagery serves as the backdrop for an exploration of the parallels between the discrimination happening today and the island's slave trade in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Bold colors in the scale from pink to blue reign at the beginning of the film over the intense green backgrounds, the youthful nightlife combined with the nature’s power. The colour palette of earthy colours slowly eats away any other contrast during most of the film. Their bright colours visually representing a rebellion against the natural course of things.
The filmed premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it was awarded the Young Jury Award.
About the festival:
ESCENA. Oslo Ibero-amerikanske filmdager is a platform for cultural exchange between Norway and the Ibero-American region.
The aim of the festival is to promote the interest in film from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations of Europe and the Americas and showcase the vibrant film expressions of these nations.
The films convey social, political, and historical aspects of this cultural context as well as the challenges currently facing the societies of the region. Even though these nations share a common cultural mainstream; they form a rich tapestry of diverse backgrounds that translate into their cinematic expression.
ESCENA also provides a gathering place and discussion forum for film enthusiasts, for those with roots in the region and others who have an interest in Ibero-America.
- Spilletid
- 1 t. 31 min.
- Språk
- Spansk, Haitisk (kreolsk)
- Regi
- Johanne Gomez Terrero
- Nasjonalitet
- Den dominikanske republikk, Spania
- Produksjonsår
- 2024