The Harlem-based African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) says that “Sugar Island,” directed by Johanne Gómez Terrero, is the recipient of the 2025 Public Award for Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color.
ADIFF’s Diarah N’Daw-Spech told Caribbean Life on Monday, Dec. 29, that the award was determined by audience vote at the 33rd annual ADIFF NY, held Nov. 28 to Dec. 14, 2025.
She said “Sugar Island” follows Makenya, a Dominican Republic–Haitian teenager living in a Batey, who faces pregnancy, labor, and colonial memory as a mysterious theater troupe ushers her into a lyrical, Afrofuturist reckoning with identity and survival.
Directed by Gómez Terrero, a distinctive voice in Afro-Caribbean cinema, N’Daw-Spech said the film “blends social realism with performance, ritual, and speculative imagery to explore labor exploitation, anti-Haitian racism, reproductive autonomy, and inherited colonial trauma.”
She said the film had its New York Premiere at ADIFF NY 2025, where it drew strong audience engagement and became the top-voted title in a competitive category.
N’Daw-Spech said, “The Public Award highlights its artistic ambition and its impact on audiences interested in Caribbean history, migration, youth, and women’s rights.”
She said the runner-up was “The Last Meal,” directed by Maryse Legagneur, an intimate drama about a dying father and his estranged daughter reconnecting through food and memory, facing family trauma.
N’Daw-Spech said the 2025 Public Award featured five feature-length films premiering in New York at ADIFF.
The films in competition were: “Sugar Island” – a Dominican Republic–Haitian teenager confronts pregnancy, labor, and colonial legacy; “The Last Meal” – a father and daughter reconnect at the end of life through food and memory; “Village Keeper” – a widowed mother copes with grief and burnout as she protects her children; “Brides” – two teenage friends on a long-awaited trip grapple with diverging futures; and “Black Women and Sex” – women from Africa share personal stories that challenge patriarchy and sexual taboos.
Co-Director Dr. Reinaldo B. Spech stated that ADIFF champions filmmakers who creatively address the experiences of people of African descent, and that the enthusiastic response to “Sugar Island” underscores the importance of films that are both artistically bold and socially relevant.
N’Daw-Spech said the 33rd ADIFF NYC presented over 70 films from more than 30 countries, including over 30 New York and US premieres, at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Cinema Village.
She said ADIFF will continue celebrating films during the “Best of ADIFF,” an encore series Jan. 16–18, 2026, at Teachers College, featuring audience favorites and award winners from ADIFF NY 2025.
Established in 1993, ADIFF is a minority-led international non-profit film festival.
Established in 1993, ADIFF is a minority-led international non-profit film festival.
N’Daw-Spech said its mission is “to present and educate about films exploring the global human experience of people of color.”
“ADIFF aims to inspire, disrupt stereotypes, and transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice,” she said.
“ADIFF aims to inspire, disrupt stereotypes, and transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice,” she said.
“The festival expands traditional views and perceptions of the Black experience by showcasing award-winning, socially relevant documentary and fiction films about people of color, from Peru to Zimbabwe, and from the USA to Belgium and New Zealand to Jamaica,” N’Daw-Spech added.
