wtitteb by Dennis Leroy Kanagalee

Euzhan Palcy’s Hollywood drama about apartheid (made during apartheid in South Africa!) “A Dry White Season” starred Marlon Brando - and her miraculous debut feature “Sugar Cane Alley” (1983) was so moving that legendary filmmaker Francois Truffaut advocated for the film – are both vital contributions to cinema, not only for their artistic merit but for their unflinching engagement with colonialism, racism, and resistance.

When the personal is political, what, then, does it mean to make “political films”? If everything is political (which it is) then the sole priority of the artist is to reflect themselves through their characters or themes and to leave their DNA in its presentation.

Style, above all, is the identifier of the artist. And it is not about content or ideas as much as it is about the how. The how is where the artist thrives or dies. Each of the two films explored here differ in narrative/plot, story, characters, and representational style on the screen. But they are both clearly the work of the same filmmaker.

Sugar Cane Alley (1983) is a deeply personal, semi-autobiographical film set in 1930s Martinique, following a young boy, José, as he navigates the oppressive realities of colonial rule while striving for an education. It explores themes of class, race, and the struggle for self-determination under French colonialism.

A Dry White Season (1989), in contrast, is a political thriller set in apartheid-era South Africa. It follows a white school teacher, Ben du Toit, whose privileged world unravels as he discovers the brutality of the regime when a Black gardener’s son is murdered by the police. The film examines complicity, moral awakening, and systemic violence.

While Sugar Cane Alley focuses on the internal world of a young protagonist trying to escape a predetermined fate, A Dry White Season is about a white man’s confrontation with injustice, making it more of an external, political drama.

Despite their differences, both films emphasize the dehumanizing effects of colonial and racist systems and highlight the power of resistance, whether through education (Sugar Cane Alley) or direct action (A Dry White Season). Both films are important contributions to cinema because of this and vital examples of a very personal aesthetic applied to political ideas and themes. Palcy’s rich, milky, and at times gently poetic realism dances with a certain milky understated melodrama that serves its characters and stories well.

Cinematic & Historical Significance

Palcy is a trailblazer. She became the first Black woman to direct a Hollywood studio film with A Dry White Season, breaking racial and gender barriers in an industry that is simply racist and has historically marginalized Black filmmakers. It continues to do so to this day, despite the phenomenal critical and commercial success of Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele. While those filmmakers continue a mainstream tradition – straddling the doors opened by Spike Lee as well as Steven Spielberg, few have developed into the movie business or the world of cinema en masse the way Palcy has.

As singular as Billy Woodberry or Robert Townsend, Palcy’s arc as a filmmaker has not been without its struggles (her output has not been what she originally hoped) and one can’t help but wonder what her situation would be like if she not only had more support, but had more commitment from other women filmmakers to produce and distribute their own works. It is tempting, every now and then, to wonder, for example, what the late Kathleen Collins and Palcy might have cooked up in terms of a production company. Nevertheless, it is important to look at what Palcy has accomplished (no small feat):

Her ability to transition from an independent, deeply personal film (Sugar Cane Alley) to a high-profile Hollywood subsidized political drama (A Dry White Season) speaks to her versatility and vision.

Authenticity & Political Courage

Sugar Cane Alley (Rue Cases Nègres) was groundbreaking for its realistic depiction of Martinique’s working-class Black population, showing their dignity, humor, and intelligence in the face of oppression—something rarely seen in cinema at the time. When cannot overstate the impact Palcy’s film had, especially on the Black diaspora. Raoul Peck made his The Man by The Shore ten years later. This gives an idea of how impactful Sugar was and how novel the idea of a Caribbean filmmaker’s reach was, internationally. Very different movies, but both are personal visions of aspects of the Black Caribbean, Peck’s movie expressing the horror and aftermath of Haitian dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier.

1989’s A Dry White Season was one of the few major Hollywood films to directly confront apartheid while it was still in place. Palcy refused to dilute the story and even went to South Africa undercover to research the realities of apartheid firsthand. Marlon Brando, who had largely retired from acting, agreed to appear in A Dry White Season because of his admiration for Palcy’s political commitment. His nerves were so intense he spent time speaking to crew and procrastinating before his first day of shooting.

*Palcy directs Marlon Brando (right) in A Dry White Season*

Adapted from the novel by André Brink, Palcy’s movie was, especially for its time, a cinematic witness to the brutal violence and racist horror of apartheid. While it used whites as its central force dramatically (Hollywood would never have conceded if such a movie was done purely from a Black character’s POV), Palcy’s intense movie is a testament to those who are courageous enough to find against injustice at any cost. One wonders what it would be like if the film was simply shown in theaters again or made its way back onto the art-house circuit in the midst of the rising savagery being committed against Palestinians. One aspect of Palcy’s movie and persona that has not gone astray is her fierce commitment to taking a stand against injustice. Raoul Peck, unfortunately, lost his credibility to me, when he decided to not include Israel’s abusive treatment of Palestinians in his Exterminate the Brutes, resulting in his startling appearance on the bullshit detector. Palcy too has worked with HBO. I wonder if she ever made such an appalling concession to them as Peck did? I doubt it. And this all hurts because I am a deep admirer of Peck’s films .

homepage image from Palcy’s website, in all her elegance

LEGACY

Sugar Cane Alley paved the way for a new wave of Caribbean cinema, inspiring filmmakers to tell stories rooted in their own histories rather than relying on European perspectives. A Dry White Season helped bring apartheid atrocities to a global audience, challenging Hollywood’s tendency to avoid direct political narratives about Black resistance.

Both films remain essential because they express different Black experiences with intelligence and urgency while pushing cinema forward as a tool for social change.

Palcy’s work proves that political engagement and artistic excellence are not mutually exclusive—they are, in fact, inseparable.

Visions of Euzhan Palcy: Hollywood & the Personal