The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire | Feature
The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire - Feature film
An actress 3-months post-partum attempts to find meaning in the writings of Martinique’s lost literary figure, Suzanne Césaire.
World Premiere: IFFR, Tiger Competition
ROLE: Line Producer - New York Unit
Directed by Madeleine Hunt - Ehrlich
Featuring Zita Hanrot, Motell Gyn Foster, Josué Gutierrez
Written by Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich
Additional Writing by Marina Magloire
Based in part on the essay "Surrealist Refugees in the Tropics" by Terese Svoboda, first published by Guernica in 2017
Producer Sophie Luo
Producer Mike S Ryan
Cinematography Alex Ashe
Production Design Terry Watson
Editor Emily Packer, Nicole Otero
Sound Design One Thousand Birds
Music Sabine McCalla
I acted as line producer for pick up shots for the NYC unit for feature film The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire.
Aimé and Suzanne Césaire play a central role in a small group of artists and students who seek to resist the degradation of Black Martiniquais at the hands of the Vichy army. When André Breton and the surrealists arrive as refugees to the island and seek out the Césaires, Breton, Aimé and Suzanne begin a mutual and triangular infatuation that blazes through them all, jolting Aimé and Suzanne from their depression.
Written and Directed by Madeleine Hunt - Ehrlich. Her first feature film “The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire” has received support from San Francisco Film Society's Rainin Grant for the screenwriting phase, from Creative Capital, and was a 2020 finalist at Biennale College Cinema, the Venice Film Festival’s prestigious film lab.