Sugar Island is a 2024 coming-of-age drama film co-written and directed by Johanné Gómez Terrero. It stars Yelidá DÃÂaz as Makenya, a 14-year-old Dominican-Haitian teenager who lives in a sugarcane community and is forced to begin her journey to adulthood after becoming pregnant.
Makenya is a 14-year-old teenager who, after becoming pregnant, is forced to grow up by her family's fury, while her grandfather joins the protests for the right to a pension and a group of women rescue the history of their slave ancestors.
Principal photography took place in San Pedro de MacorÃÂs, Dominican Republic.
Sugar Island had its world premiere on September 5, 2024, at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, then screened on October 18, 2024, at the 68th BFI London Film Festival, on November 6, 2025, at the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, on November 9, 2025, at the 35th Stockholm International Film Festival, on November 12, 2025, at the 73rd International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg, on March 19, 2025, at the 28th Málaga Film Festival, on June 21, 2025, at the 27th Taipei Film Festival, and on August 24, 2025, at the 29th Lima Film Festival. Patra Spanou Film acquired international sales rights.
The film was released commercially on March 21, 2025 in Spanish theaters, and a limited theatrical release on May 29, 2025, in the Dominican Republic.