Jump to content

Sugarcane (film)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sugarcane
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced by
  • Emily Kassie
  • Kellen Quinn
Cinematography
  • Christopher LaMarca
  • Emily Kassie
Edited by
  • Nathan Punwar
  • Maya Daisy Hawke
Music byMali Obomsawin
Production
companies
Distributed byNational Geographic Documentary Films (Worldwide)
Variance Films (United States)
Films We Like (Canada)
Release dates
  • January 20, 2024 (2024-01-20) (Sundance)
  • August 9, 2024 (2024-08-09) (United States and Canada)
Running time
107 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United States
  • Canada
Languages
  • English
  • Secwepemctsín[1]
Box office$77,864[2][3]

Sugarcane is a 2024 documentary film, directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie and produced by Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn. It follows an investigation into the Canadian Indian residential school system, igniting a reckoning in the lives of survivors and descendants.

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024 where it won the Grand Jury award for Directing.[4] It is scheduled to be theatrically released in limited engagements in the United States and Canada on August 9, 2024, before gradually expanding to other cities starting August 16, by National Geographic Documentary Films through Variance Films in the United States and Films We Like in Canada.

Premise

[edit]

Sugarcane follows an investigation into the Canadian Indian residential school system, igniting a reckoning in the lives of survivors and descendants.[5][6] The film focuses on an incident reported in the September 3rd, 1959 issue of the Cariboo Observer in which a 20-year old unmarried Indian woman abandoned her newborn infant in a garbage burner behind St Joseph's Indian Residential School near Williams Lake in British Columbia. The baby's life was saved by the school's dairyman, Antonious Stoop, who found the abandoned infant when he returned to the school late in the evening from a meeting, and rushed the infant to the Williams Lake hospital. The mother was subsequently charged, and sentenced to a year in prison.[7]

Production

[edit]

The film received grants from Catapult Film Fund and the International Documentary Association Enterprise Fund.[8][9][10]

Release

[edit]

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024.[11] It also played at the 2024 San Francisco International Film Festival, 2024 Seattle International Film Festival,[12] the 2024 Sheffield International Documentary Festival,[13] the 2024 Sydney Film Festival,[14] the 2024 DOXA Documentary Film Festival,[15] the 2024 Nantucket Film Festival,[16] the 2024 Boston Independent Film Festival,[17] the 2024 Sarasota Film Festival,[18] the 2024 Maryland Film Festival,[19] the 2024 Cleveland International Film Festival,[20] and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.[21]

In February 2024, National Geographic Documentary Films acquired distribution rights to the film.[22] It was later announced that the film would be screened in exclusive engagements at the Film Forum in Manhattan and TIFF Lightbox in Toronto starting August 9, 2024, followed by the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles starting August 16; an expansion to other cities in the United States and Canada will gradually take place starting August 16. Variance Films and Films We Like serve as co-distributors in the United States and Canada respectively.[23][24]

Reception

[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Accumulating immense emotional power as it methodically uncovers a grave injustice, Sugarcane is one of the most compelling and important documentaries of the year."[25] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 92 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[26]

Accolades

[edit]

It won the "Documentary award"[27] from the 2024 San Francisco International Film Festival, the "Official Competition Special Jury Prize"[28] from the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival, and the "Special Jury Prize Documentary Feature"[29] from the 2024 Sarasota Film Festival.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Sugarcane". Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Sugarcane". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 6, 2024.Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ "Sugarcane". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  4. ^ "2024 Sundance Film Festival Announces Award Winners - sundance.org". 26 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Sugarcane". Impact Partners. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  6. ^ "Williams Lake First Nation-Focused film 'Sugarcane' to premiere at Sundance Film Festival". Nation Talk. December 11, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  7. ^ "Sep 03, 1959, page C7 - Quesnel Cariboo Observer at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  8. ^ "Sugarcane". Catapult Film Fund. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  9. ^ "2022 Enterprise Documentary Fund Production Grantees". International Documentary Association. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  10. ^ "Sugarcane". International Documentary Association. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  11. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 6, 2023). "Sundance Unveils Packed 2024 Lineup That Includes A.I., Pedro Pascal, Kristen Stewart, Satan, Devo & Steven Yeun". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  12. ^ "Sugarcane". SIFF. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  13. ^ "SIFF 2024 Award Winners". sheffdocfest. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  14. ^ "SUGARCANE". SFF. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  15. ^ "Sugarcane". Eventine. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  16. ^ "SUGARCANE". nantucketfilmfestival. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "Independent Film Festival Boston". IFFBOSTON. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  18. ^ "Documentary Feature Competition Winner Award Winner". Sarasota Film Festival. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  19. ^ "MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL 2024". MUBI. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  20. ^ "Sugarcane". Cleveland Film. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  21. ^ "Sugarcane". full frame fest. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  22. ^ White, Peter (February 21, 2024). "Nat Geo Buys 'Sugarcane' Documentary Out Of Sundance". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  23. ^ "Film Forum July-September 2024" (PDF). Film Forum. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Carey, Matthew (10 July 2024). "Watch Trailer For 'Sugarcane,' Harrowing Documentary Investigating Sexual Abuse And Disappearances At Indigenous "Residential Schools"". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Sugarcane". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  26. ^ "Sugarcane". Metacritic. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  27. ^ Anderson, Erik (May 1, 2024). "'Sugarcane,' 'The Teacher' Earn Awards at 67th San Francisco International Film Festival as SFFILM Enters a State of Change". Awards Watch. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  28. ^ "SIFF 2024 Award Winners". SIFF. May 19, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  29. ^ "'Thelma,' 'Sugarcane,' and 'Alok' Win Top Prizes at the 2024 Sarasota Film Festival". IndieWire. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
[edit]
Retrieved from "http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Sugarcane_(film)&oldid=1244450319"