An unwanted pregnancy propels Makenya, a teenager in a sugarcane-surrounded Batey community, into adulthood. A serpent representing the Mysterious guides Makenya to embrace both her earthly power and multi-dimensional awareness, navigating the realm of the impossible.
Spain/Dominican Republic, 2024, 91 mins, drama in Haitian and Spanish (with English subtitles), Johanne Gomez Terrero, dir.
“Johanné Gómez Terrero blends tradition and spirituality, the literal and the allegorical, in a beautifully made and deeply touching fiction feature debut. The themes of labour rights, protests against the mechanisation of the sugar industry, and decolonial thought make Sugar Islanda syncretic, politically engaged work that avoids all traces of didacticism. On the contrary, the film’s gorgeous look, thanks to lensing by Alván Prado, alludes to the many layers of reality and beyond"~ Savina Petkova, Cineuropa
