Tonight's Movies: A DRY WHITE SEASON
Directed by: Euzhan Palcy
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Born in Martinique, Euzhan Palcy is a film director, writer and producer. In 1983, she directed Sugar Cane Alley (Rue Cases Nègres) putting the French West Indies on cinema’s world stages. This critically acclaimed film went on to win the Silver Lion and Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival and the prestigious Cesar Award (French Academy Award) for best first film, making Euzhan Palcy the first woman and the first black director (male or female) to be granted this prestigious award.
In 1989, she wrote and directed the anti-apartheid film “A Dry White Season” and became the first black female director produced by a major Hollywood studio (MGM). She successfully brought Marlon Brando back to the cinema screens as an anti-apartheid lawyer alongside Donald Sutherland, Susan Sarandon, Janet Suzman and Jürgen Prochnow.
In 1992, she wrote and directed the musical and fantasy film Siméon with Kassav, the Godfathers of Zouk Music. There after she filmed the documentary trilogy Aimé Césaire : A Voice For History (1994, reissued in 2006 as Aimé Césaire : A Voice For The 21st Century ) and directed and co-produced Ruby Bridges (Disney, 1998).
In 2006, she directed the French documentary Parcours de Dissidents (The Journey Of The Dissidents) which tells the incredible story of 5,000 French West Indians, young fighters (boys and girls) during World War II. Her struggle for their national recognition was officially acknowledged by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy who presented to her France’s highest award : the Legion of Honor on behalf of all those courageous war veterans.
In 2007, she directed the historical drama, The Brides Of Bourbon Island (Les Mariées de L'Île Bourbon), about the colonization of the Reunion Island during the 17th century. That same year to mark the Bicentennial of the 1807 Abolition of Slave Trade Act in the UK, The National Maritime Museum of London screened her movie Sugar Cane Alley (Rue Cases Nègres).
She manages her time between her humanitarian work (helping disabled or very ill young people to rebuild themselves and achieve their dreams) and the development of new European and American film projects.
The Filmmaker holds the keys to the cities of New York, Atlanta, New Orleans and Sarassota, Fl. In France, she is a distinguished recipient of the French Legion of Honor for her work and social causes. A high school, a movie theater and a road bear her name.
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