Director Ava DuVernay remains committed to having only women direct her successful OWN network series, Queen Sugar. With season three set to return to OWN on May 29, the new crop of directors for the season have been revealed and one of them is incredibly exciting. Colombian director Patricia Cardoso, best known for her 2002 coming-of-age drama Real Women Have Curves, has been tapped to get behind the camera for DuVernay this season, alongside directors DeMane Davis, Maria Govan, and Lauren Wolkstein.
Queen Sugar, based on the novel by Natalie Baszile, follows the Bordelon family and the challenges of running a cane sugar business in the wake of the family patriarch’s death. The series has scored record breaking highs for Oprah’s OWN Network, and since its beginnings DuVernay has hired several amazing women of color, including Mosquito y Mari helmer Aurora Guerrero for season two. In an interview with Remezcla last year, in the wake of her own directorial debut for the series, Guerrero said DuVernay gave her an episode “tailor-made for me.” There was a comfort on-set but challenges considering Guerrero had never worked in television before. “I felt that on Ava’s set I grew.”
All of this seems to imply that Cardoso will be allowed to do her own thing while enhancing DuVernay’s vision for the series. What’s made Real Women Have Curves so immortal is how relatable it feels, both to Latinas but also women of all ages and races. There’s no doubt Cardoso will be able to bring her brand of directorial style of the emotionally frought world of the Bordelons. As DuVernay confirmed on Twitter, Cardoso brought her talents to episode 302. This season of Queen Sugar will also see a new showrunner in Kat Candler, who will replace season two’s helmer Monica Macer. Candler will work closely with DuVernay on the series this season.
Queen Sugar’s third season premieres May 29 with a second episode airing May 30 on OWN.