Euzhan Palcy

rdf:langString Euzhan Palcy

rdf:langString Euzhan Palcy

rdf:langString Euzhan Palcy

rdf:langString Euzhan Palcy in 2012

rdf:langString Palcy in 2012

rdf:langString A Dry White Season

rdf:langString Sugar Cane Alley

rdf:langString Filmmaker

rdf:langString Euzhan Palcy ([ø.ʒɑ̃ pal.si]; born January 13, 1958) is a film director, writer and producer from Martinique. Her films are known to explore themes of race, gender, and politics, with an emphasis on the perpetuated effects of colonialism. Palcy’s first feature film Sugar Cane Alley (1983) received numerous awards including the César Award for Best First Feature Film. In 1989, she directed A Dry White Season (1989), becoming the first black female director to have a film produced by a major Hollywood studio, that being by MGM. In 1992 she directed the independent film Siméon (1992). She has since moved towards directing documentaries and television projects such as Aimé Césaire, A Voice For History (1994). She then directed an episode of The Wonderful World of Disney entitled Ruby Bridges (1998) based on the person of the same name. She then directed the television film The Killing Yard (2001) based on the true events surrounding the 1971 Attica prison uprising. Palcy also directed the documentary The Journey of the Dissidents (2005), which tells the story of the men and women of Martinique and Guadeloupe who left their islands between 1940 and 1943, and the historical television miniseries epic The Brides of Bourbon Island (2007). Throughout her career, she has explored various genres, often breaking ground being the first female black director to do so. She became the first black director to win a Cesar Award, and the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion both for Sugar Cane Alley (1983). In 2022, she will receive an Academy Honorary Award (honorary Oscar) for her life's work.