Planet X

‘The Price of Sugar’ is the screen adaptation of Cynthia McLeod’s successful novel of the same name. It tells the story of two half-sisters in eighteenth-century Suriname, the white Sarith and her personal slave Mini-Mini. While Sarith grows embittered by the harsh life in the colony, Mini-Mini gets a chance at happiness. Can she and will she dare to grab that chance – , at the expense of her mistress and half-sister?

As the present-day Surinamese landscape doesn’t contain enough original elements consistent with the film’s era, ‘The Price of Sugar’ was predominantly shot in South Africa, after which visual effects were added to more than 250 shots by Planet X in collaboration with the South African company Broadbean VFX.

The African landscapes were transformed into a ‘digital Paramaribo’ by adding digital elements like houses, mills, tropical vegetation and even historical ships, which were shot specifically for this film. In several shots, present-day landscape elements were removed to heighten the film’s realism.

‘The Price of Sugar’ was the opening film at the Dutch Film Festival (NFF) 2013. For their VFX contribution to the film, Planet X has been awarded the 'Special Jury Award' during the first Dutch VFX Award organized by the VNAP (Society of Dutch Animation Producers). This initiative hopefully leads to an official award ('Gouden Kalf' or 'Golden Calf') during the NFF (Dutch Film Festival) in coming years.