LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Director Euzhan Palcy has made history more than a few times in her four decades in the movie business.
She was the first Black woman to direct a film produced by a major studio (MGM鈥檚 鈥淎 Dry White Season鈥�), the first Black director of any gender to win the C茅sar Award in France, the first woman to win a Venice Silver Lion (for 鈥淪ugar Cane Alley鈥�), the only woman to direct Marlon Brando and the first Black woman to direct an actor to an Oscar nomination (also Brando). She blazed trails for a generation of Black female filmmakers, from Ava DuVernay and Amma Asante to Regina Hall and Gina Prince-Bythewood, and most of the time it wasn鈥檛 easy or fun.
But she was driven by a conviction that she holds this day: 鈥淚 was born to make movies.鈥�
Now after some years away from the business, she is ready, at 64, to get behind the camera again. And what better way to start a comeback than with an Oscar? On Saturday, Palcy will get an honorary statuette at , in recognition of her contributions to motion pictures. She鈥檚 being celebrated alongside Australian director Peter Weir, songwriter Diane Warren and actor Michael J. Fox, who is getting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, at the untelevised event.
鈥淚 felt like this was the right time for me to show up again,鈥� Palcy, from Paris, told The Associated Press. 鈥淚 was ready.鈥�
Palcy was born in Martinique, in the French West Indies, in 1958, and from age 10 had set her sights on filmmaking even though it seemed like no one who was doing it, successfully at least, looked like her. Her imagination was sparked by Marcel Camus鈥� 鈥淏lack Orpheus鈥� and the films of Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang and. In the mid-70s, she left for Paris, where she studied at the Sorbonne and got a master鈥檚 degree in film from the prestigious Louis-Lumi猫re College. There she was encouraged to keep pursuing filmmaking by Fran莽ois Truffaut.
But she couldn鈥檛 find anyone to give her money to make her first feature, 鈥淪ugar Cane Alley,鈥� even after she got an important grant from the French Government that would typically pique the interest of financiers. The film would be an adaptation of Joseph Zobel鈥檚 semi-autobiographical novel about Martinique in the 1930s, the Africans working the sugar cane fields and their white owners.
鈥淚 had a degree from the most famous film school in France and it was not enough,鈥� Palcy said. 鈥淚 was still Black, I was still a woman, and I was still young.鈥�
Still, she managed to make 鈥淪ugar Cane Alley鈥� from nothing and it went on to be a great success, winning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and a C茅sar for best first work. The most important thing to her, though, was that it resonated with the people of Martinique who told her they鈥檇 never seen themselves on screen before.
鈥淢ost people point it out that I was a pioneer. They say it doesn鈥檛 make you happy? And it鈥檚 not that, but it鈥檚 hard, it鈥檚 hard to be a pioneer. People think it鈥檚 a big deal and it鈥檚 great, but nothing is there and you pick a road and you pave it. That requires a lot of tenacity, a lot of fight, a lot of struggle, a lot of tears.
"I love the metaphor of a woman who is pregnant and the pregnancy is so hard on her and it鈥檚 difficult to give birth to that baby. Then once she does, she鈥檚 exhausted. That鈥檚 the way I felt when 鈥楽ugar Cane Alley鈥� came out. I couldn鈥檛 even enjoy the success of that movie,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it made me stronger and even more determined to fight for my stories.鈥�
Hollywood took notice and the exciting new talent behind the camera. Robert Redford invited her out to do the Sundance Director鈥檚 Lab, in 1984, and would be a sounding board as more offers came in. Life, for a moment, was a whirlwind of courting and offers.
Warner Bros. executive Lucy Fisher flew her to Los Angeles and gave her a grand welcome to try to get her to make a film with them. Palcy asked about adapting 鈥淭he Color Purple,鈥� though was politely told that Steven Spielberg had already set his sights on that. She decided on 鈥淎 Dry White Season.鈥� The film almost fell apart, though, when Warner Bros. brass decided after Universal released 鈥淐ry Freedom鈥� that two apartheid movies was too many. MGM stepped in to make it.
Palcy has always been steadfast in her vision. Paul Newman was desperate to be in the film, but she was set on Donald Sutherland. She also convinced Brando, who had been retired for nine years, to take a role. For that, he received his eighth and final Oscar nomination.
After that, though, Hollywood became a mixed bag. She made 鈥淩uby Bridges鈥� for the Wonderful World of Disney and 鈥淭he Killing Yard,鈥� a TV film about the Attica Prison riot. But then about a decade ago, she decided she had to leave. She鈥檇 heard no, and that Black films don鈥檛 sell, a few too many times. And she鈥檇 been asked to make a few too many films that didn鈥檛 speak to her.
鈥淚 thought, I cannot betray my ideals,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I thought I鈥檇 go away and put my energy into helping young filmmakers so I didn鈥檛 waste my time. I was just waiting for the right time to come back.鈥�
In the ensuing years, she鈥檇 receive many letters and emails from people asking her where she was and why she wasn鈥檛 making films. Some of her films have gotten a second life too: 鈥淎 Dry White Season鈥� got a Criterion restoration and 鈥淩uby Bridges鈥� started streaming on Disney+.
鈥淢y work is not for people from yesterday,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y work is for people from the new generation.鈥�
Then earlier this year she had a feeling that the time to come back was now. Soon after, she got an honor in France and 24 hours later got the phone call about the honorary Oscar.
鈥淚 said, 鈥楳y God, what is happening?鈥� It was worth the sadness and the struggle I had inside me for not being able to do my movies,鈥� she said.
Now she just hopes that people don鈥檛 put her in a box, thinking she鈥檚 just a 鈥減olitical filmmaker.鈥�
鈥淚 want to make all kinds of movies,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 can do any genre."
Palcy does want to make one thing clear: Though she is forthright about the struggles and adversity she faced, she wants people to know that she is also a very positive person.
鈥淚t was not a complaint,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if they ask me about it, I will be honest.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
