Private Project

Ms Sugga

On a wonderful journey Ms. Sugga, a strong, feisty animated sugar cane stalk, travels with two kids (Tamika and Omar), and a wise African Chief (Tacky), in a magical bubble back in time, in search of ancient sugar cane molasses that she must find in order to make her bulla cakes, but on the way they get caught in Jamaica’s turbulent sugar cane history and discover that ‘the spirit to survive never dies’ when you’re determined to fight for a future you want. As the four make their way through history in search of ‘sweetness’, they meet bitter sweet characters of the past and identify the new elements needed to change the balance of power to make the sugar cane industry work for its people.

  • Mary Wells
    Director
    Kingston Paradise and Now Jimmy
  • Mary Wells
    Writer
    Kingston Paradise and Now Jimmy
  • Mary Wells
    Producer
    Kingston Paradise and Now Jimmy
  • Patricia Northover
    Producer
  • Kenia Matis
    Key Cast
    " Ms Sugga"
  • Leonie Forbes
    Key Cast
    "Narrator- Series introduction"
    Lord Have Mercy
  • Ackeem Poyser
    Key Cast
    "Tacky"
    Joint Tenants; Destiny and University of Delcina
  • Ashliana Spence
    Key Cast
    "Tamika"
  • Joel Simpson
    Key Cast
    "Omar"
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Television
  • Runtime:
    57 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 30, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    114,382 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Jamaica
  • Country of Filming:
    Jamaica
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    HD (16X9)
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Kingstoon Animation Film Festival (April 2019)
    Kingston
    Jamaica
    April 5, 2019
    Jamaica/Caribbean
    Finalist- Best short film
Distribution Information
  • MINISTRY OF EDUCATION YOUTH AND INFORMATION-JAMAICA
    Country: Jamaica
    Rights: Internet, Video / Disc, Free TV
Director Biography - Mary Wells

Mary Wells
An award winning independent film Director/ Writer and Producer, she has nearly thirty years experience in television and film production in Jamaica/ the Caribbean and internationally. Her work is varied, but has consisted of many small documentaries and dramas for young adults and children. In 1999, her documentary short “Now Jimmy!” was awarded “Outstanding Documentary from the Caribbean” in the Sheryl Lee Ralph Film & Music Festival and was also accepted in the prestigious Toronto Int’l Film Festival, 2002. In 2014 her first narrative feature, “Kingston Paradise”, was awarded ‘Best Diaspora Feature’ from the African Movie Academy Awards. She studied Television Production and the Theatre Arts in Washington DC and continues to do Film and TV production work of all kinds.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Ms. Sugga is a magical and beautiful story despite the horrors of the journey it takes us through, which are key points in Jamaica’s five hundred year Atlantic slave trade history, the post emancipation period, the early independence years and into today. In this mini film series nature is bursting with colours and a vibrancy that’s hard to ignore. These amazing natural surroundings, gives a strength to the past history that is forever there. What was once the gravest human rights atrocity in modern history is confronted through its engaging concept by using the classical 2D Retro Disney storytelling style that grapples with the ‘pound of flesh’ owed even as the children encounter how to make a future out of the Sugar Cane plant for some of the most basic things in modern life; such as fuel, electricity, special medicines and foods. While I'm no animator, I'm a live-action filmmaker, the journey for this project wasn't easy, but I am truly honoured to have been a part of it. Most of all,its values and purpose are sound for a young audience where it explores a future of self-reliance and working together, no matter the time and space