βQueen Sugar,β the critically acclaimed drama series from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay (βA Wrinkle in Time,β β13th,β βSelmaβ), executive producer Oprah Winfrey and Warner Horizon Scripted Television, returns for its fourth season on OWN Wednesday, June 12 (9 p.m. ET/PT).
Continuing a creative initiative established in the showβs first season, series creator/executive producer DuVernay has once again assembled an all-female directing team for the fourth consecutive season. Season 4 directors include Cheryl Dunye, who will also serve as producing director, in addition to Carmen MarrΓ³n, Numa Perrier, Heidi Saman, Bola Ogun and Tchaiko Omawale, all of whom will be making their television directorial debut, with additional names to be announced.
The complete third season of “Queen Sugar” is also now available to stream exclusively on Hulu, making it possible for viewers to catch up on all past episodes of the series ahead of the season four premiere.
Additionally, the following casting announcements have been made for season four:
Erica Tazel (βRootsβ) portrays Deesha Brown-Sonnier, an attorney and socially conscious neighbor and mother of Joie. Recurring Guest Star
Kendall Clark portrays Joie, a bright and self-confident tomboy, daughter of a single mother who becomes friends with Blue. βQueen Sugarβ marks her television debut. Recurring Guest Star
Walter Perez (βThe Avengersβ) portrays Romero Rodriguez, a rugged, naturally sexy man with gentle manners who begins dating Charley Bordelon after helping her start a dead battery and then runs into her in the hospital where he works as a physician assistant. Upped to Series Regular.
βQueen Sugarβ was recently named Television Show of the Year from the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) for the third consecutive year and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Best Drama Series. During its most-recent season, Queen Sugar was the #5 original scripted series on ad-supported cable among W25-54, ranked #1 across all cable on Wednesday nights in the timeslot with W25-54 and ranked among the top five scripted series on all ad-supported cable with African-American W18-34.
About βQueen Sugarβ Season Four Directors:
Β· Cheryl Dunye: Dunye returns to season four of βQueen Sugarβ as a producing director having previously directed episodes of the series in season two as a first-time television director. Dunye is considered the most influential African American filmmaker to emerge from New Queer Cinema wave of the mid-1990s. Her groundbreaking first film, βThe Watermelon Woman,β won the Teddy Award for Best Feature at Berlinale in 1996. Her 2002 follow-up, HBO’s βStranger Inside,β was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards including Best Director. Since 2017, she has directed episodes of βDavid Makes Manβ and βLove Is___β for OWN and Warner Horizon, βClawsβ for TNT, βThe Chiβ for Showtime, βStarβ on Fox, and “The Fosters” for Freeform. She is now set to write & direct “The Wonder Of All Things” for Lionsgate.
Β· Carmen MarrΓ³n: Marron is a self-taught writer, director and producer whose debut feature βGo For Itβ was bought and distributed by Lionsgate. Her feature film βEnd Gameβ was exhibited by AMC and premiered on HBO in 2016, with Indiewireβs Latinobuzz naming MarrΓ³n βone of the five Latina Directors at the helm of breaking films.β MarrΓ³n is a member of Film Independent and NALIP. βQueen Sugarβ will mark MarrΓ³nβs television directional debut.
Β· Numa Perrier: Perrier is a Haitian filmmaker, visual artist and actress whose first feature film βJezebel,β which she wrote and directed, recently premiered at SXSW Film Festival. She founded House of Numa, an art house film company, and the entertainment and lifestyle digital platform Black & Sexy TV. βQueen Sugarβ will mark Perrierβs television directional debut.
Β· Heidi Saman: Samanβs feature film βNamourβ won a Jury Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2016, where it was acquired by ARRAY and is currently streaming on Netflix. Last year, Saman was selected to participate in the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA) and the Princess Grace Foundation-USA partnership at the Cannes Film Festival, and was previously named one of Filmmaker Magazineβs 25 New Faces to Watch. In 2008, Samanβs short film βThe Maidβ premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Saman is currently a producer with NPRβs Fresh Air. βQueen Sugarβ will mark Samanβs television directional debut.
Β· Bola Ogun: Ogun is a first generation Nigerian-American filmmaker, whose short film βAre We Good Parentsβ was a SXSW Film Festival official selection in 2018 and earned 2nd runner up for Best Narrative Short at Urbanworld. Ogun was selected for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women in 2014, the inaugural class for the Ryan Murphyβs Televisino HALF Mentorship Program, one of five filmmakers for Robert Rodriguezβs docuseries βRebel Without A Crewβ and is currently a participant in WeForShe DirectHer program. Ogun has worked in the production department on numerous big budget feature films and produced music videos for Capital Records and Vanity Fairβs viral video βLadyboss.β βQueen Sugarβ will mark Ogunβs television directional debut.
Β· Tchaiko Omawale: Omawaleβs feature film βSolace,β which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2018, participated in Tribeca All Access in 2016 and was a recipient of the Panavision New Filmmakers Program 2015. Omawale was a 2017 School of Making Thinking Resident fellow where she created the VR film βShapeshifters.β She currently directs commercials and branded content with Unicorns + Unicorns. βQueen Sugarβ will mark Omawaleβstelevision directional debut.
In the seriesβ fourth season, the contemporary drama returns as the Bordelons find themselves continuing their fight to save their family farm and preserve their fatherβs legacy as they navigate their own personal journeys. Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) remains in the thick of the trials and tribulations in both her personal and professional life as she continues to battle the Landry family while also trying to ensure Micahβs (Nicholas Ashe) safety and future. Nova (Rutina Wesley) publishes her memoir and while she goes on a book tour around the country sharing her family secrets and shaking things up at home, she unexpectedly encounters significant relationships from her past along the way. Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) is managing fatherhood and his complicated relationship with ex-girlfriend Darla (Bianca Lawson) after learning he is not the biological father of his son, Blue (Ethan Hutchison), and is encouraged by an old friend to create opportunities for formerly incarcerated men.
The expansive cast also includes Tina Lifford as the siblingsβ free-spirited Aunt Violet who revealed her Lupus diagnosis to her family along with plans to open her own pie shop; Omar J. Dorsey as Violetβs new husband Hollywood Desonier; and Henry G. Sanders plays Prosper Denton, a farmer and longtime friend of the late Bordelon family patriarch, Ernest. Additionally, recurring guest star Timon Kyle Durrett portrays Charleyβs estranged husband and pro basketball player Davis West.
βQueen Sugarβ is produced for OWN by Forward Movement and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. The executive producers are Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Garnes and Anthony Sparks. The series is based on the book by Natalie Baszile.