Inside ‘Sugar Cane Boy’: Rubendra Govender on capturing the resilient spirit of 1972 Inanda

Rubendra Govender drew inspiration from KwaZulu-Natal's sugar cane farming communities and his own family history when creating *Sugar Cane Boy*.

The producers of “Sugar Cane Boy" have announced that the South African feature film will be released in cinemas nationwide on July 10.

Written and directed by Rubendra Govender, the film is set in 1972 on the sugar cane fields of Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal.

It follows the life of Soya Sivaramen as he navigates friendship, identity, love and social change in apartheid-era South Africa.

For Govender, the choice of setting was both historical and personal.