Sugar Island
Directed by Johanne Gómez Terrero- Fiction
- Dominican Republic, Spain
- Haitian and Spanish with English subtitles
- 2025
- 91 mins
- Vermont premiere
Sugar Island blends the personal, political, and spiritual as the film follows Makenya, a teenager in the Dominican Republic, who is navigating an unwanted pregnancy. Makenya fights to gain documentation to pass along to her future child while she simultaneously advocates for her sugarcane-farming grandfather’s rights amid a mechanizing agricultural system. Featuring captivatingly naturalistic performances and mystical visions, Sugar Island is both grounded in daily life and soars beyond the limitations of Makenya’s material realm.
