Sugar Island (2024) Screening + Discussion

Join us for a screening and panel discussion following the film Sugar Island immerses us in the Dominican Republic’s sugarcane fields, where Makenya, a Dominican-Haitian teenager, navigates an unexpected pregnancy and the harsh labor that defines her world. The screening is followed by a discussion with Cynthia Roberts-Pérez and Magdalee Brunache, moderated by Pamela Arancibia focussing on the history of the island nation’s sugar plantations, the evolution from slave labour to the Batey system, and current labour organizing within this exploitative sector. It will also delve into the director’s artistic approach. This venue is wheelchair accessible and has gender neutral, wheelchair accessible washrooms. For requests, please email [email protected] Mayworks Festival is a community-based festival which annually presents new works by a diverse and broad range of artists, who are both workers and activists. The programming presents bold, insightful, responses to pressing issues at the intersection of art, social justice and labour. Learn more.