Sugar Cane Alley

Sugar Cane Alley is a French film whose story takes place in the early 1930s on the island of Martinique. The plot is derived from Joseph Zobel's 1950 novel. The film was released in France in 1983.

The film's main character is José, a child living with his grandmother in a tiny village on the island. Almost everyone who lives there earns a meager living cutting cane. Overseers there are able to fine workers for insignificant mistakes. In order to work in any other profession, a person would need to study and earn high grades in school.

José works hard in school and passes a difficult exam, awarding him with a scholarship to the high school in the island's capital city. But the award only covers a portion of the expensive tuition, and so José’s grandmother decides to travel with her grandson to the city to help him with his studies.

In the capital, José’s grandmother works for the upper class to make enough money for her and José to live on. An elderly sugar cane worker tells José stories about Africa. José writes his own stories based on the man’s tales, and submits them as an essay at his new school. Because his stories are so well written, he is accused of plagiarizing the essay from a book. Devastated and embarrassed, José leaves the school and runs back into town.

The teacher goes to José’s home and meets with his grandmother. He then apologizes to the young boy, informing him that he is innocent. One day, José’s grandmother suffers a heart attack on her way home from a trip to a local tailor and passes away. José returns to Black Shack Alley and faces an uncertain future.

Sugar Cane Alley won in every category the film was nominated for at the César Awards in France. It also won two awards at the Venice Film Festival.