Sugar Cane Alley

Sugar Cane Alley [dir: Euzhan Palcy, 1983, 106 mins] is a French Caribbean film based on the semi-autobiographical novel La Rue Cases-Nègres (1950) by Joseph Zobel. The narrative centres on his childhood on a plantation, the sacrifices his family made in order to secure his education and the ways in which racial inequality and prejudice pervaded the colonial school system. Palcy’s cinematic adaptation of the book won many awards and much critical acclaim but remains less well-known in this country.

PhD student Antonia Wimbush will introduce the film, contextualising both the novel and the film in terms of cultural output from the Francophone Caribbean. Dr Louise Hardwick, an expert on Zobel, will host a Q&A session following the screening, sharing insights from her recent research trips to Martinique for an AHRC-funded project on Zobel.

This screening is presented by Dr Claire Peters as part of a project sponsored by the AHRC’s Cultural Engagement Fund, which supports valuable collaboration between universities and cultural organisations. Dr Peters will share some of the fascinating research currently taking place at the University of Birmingham’s Modern Languages Department through screenings of Francophone films  at regional organisations including mac Birmingham and The Drum.

Booking: Admission free. Book to reserve your place.

Presented by the Department of Modern Languages in partnership with mac birmingham. Funded by AHRC Cultural Engagement Fund as part of Arts & Science Festival 2016, a week-long celebration of ideas, research and collaboration across campus.