Martinique-born Euzhan Palcy is the first black woman director to have a film produced by a major studio (for 1989's A Dry White Season).
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The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is honoring the flimmaker from May 18-30 with a retrospective of her films. The festival includes her first film, Rue Cases-Nègres (Sugar Cane Alley), about a poor boy living on a Martinique sugarcane plantation, as well as four other films that will make their New York premiere. You can also check out her made-for-TV work, including The Killing Yard (2001), about the Attica-prison uprising.
Non-New Yorkers can check out some of her work here.
Previous recommendation: 'Bridesmaids.'
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