Sugar and StarsMovies like Sugar and Stars
- Key Features:
- Chef, Foster care, Rags to riches, Passion, Determination, Mentorship, Biographical, Overcoming adversity, Culinary arts, Inspiration
- Tone:
- earnest, dramatic
- Target Audience:
- Biopic enthusiasts, Inspirational stories, Foodies, Drama fans
- Emotional Arc:
- Struggle → Perseverance → Triumph
Sugar and Stars

Raised in foster and group homes, Yazid pursues his lifelong passion for pastry to work with top chefs and become the best.
Sugar and Stars
Cathy is a sous-chef wanting to open a restaurant. With financial difficulties, Cathy accepts a job at a shelter for young migrants. At first she hates the job then her passion for cuisine starts to change children's lives.

A veteran chef faces off against his restaurant group's new CEO, who wants to the establishment to lose a star from its rating in order to bring in a younger chef who specializes in molecular gastronomy.

Adam Jones is a Chef who destroyed his career with drugs and diva behavior. He cleans up and returns to London, determined to redeem himself by spearheading a top restaurant that can gain three Michelin stars.

The story of Danièle Delpeuch and how she was appointed as the private chef for François Mitterrand.

A talented young street-food cook pushes herself to the limit after accepting an invitation to train under an infamous and ruthless chef.

Like many young men in the Dominican Republic, 19-year-old Miguel "Sugar" Santos dreams of winning a slot on an American baseball team. Indeed, his talents as a pitcher eventually land him a slot on a single-A team in Iowa, but culture shock, racism and other curveballs threaten to turn Sugar's dream sour.

France, 1789 - just before the Revolution. When talented chef Manceron is dismissed from his prestigious position by the Duke of Chamfort, he loses the taste for cooking. But when he meets the mysterious Louise, together they decide to create the very first restaurant in France.

Yann, a cook, and Nadia, a waitress and mother of 9-year-old child, decide to risk everything on the purchase of a restaurant. With plenty of talent, energy, love and dreams, but no finance of their own, they find themselves forced into a jungle of financing and bank loans that quickly overwhelms them. To bail them out, Nadia has to take a job in Canada, while Yann is forced to stay behind to save the restaurant. Together, he and the child confront a relentless avalanche of creditors, an uncaring system and the daily grind from which there is no respite… Yann finally understands that his only chance of salvation lies in joining his lover – as well as reuniting mother and child – by following Nadia to Canada and a better life.

Mohammed Assaf, an aspiring musician living in Gaza, sets a seemingly impossible goal: to compete on the program "Arab Idol."

Everything is going wrong for Adam: he just failed his baccalaureate, his friends Slimane and Ludovic are about to go their separate ways, his girlfriend is leaving him for another guy, and his parents are constantly arguing. Sinking into despair, the young man regains hope when he discovers a contest where the winner gets a one-year visa to the United States—the place he should have gone on vacation if he had passed his exam.

In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.

Emma and chocolatier Luc compete for Belgium's Royal Chocolatier. The beauty and romance of Bruges inspire unique chocolate combinations, but will their entry win without them losing their hearts?

Follows a youngster Kalai and his aspirations of becoming a 'Star' in the Tamil Film Industry. Born in a lower-middle-class family, will Kalai overcome all his struggles to emerge as a Star?

Adeline's Chinese housekeeper suddenly disappears, leaving behind a little boy who doesn't speak a word of French. Helped by her sister, she takes care of the child and proceeds to locate the mother.

A young woman who dreams of opening her own restaurant lands a job at a prominent restaurant whose head chef becomes her unlikely ally when the restaurant's unscrupulous owner, a Master Chef herself, plots to return the place to its former glory by presenting her new assistant's recipes as her own.

A 40-year-old world-famous chef with anger management issues is assigned to run a cooking class at a centre for young people with autism.

One man's journey to discover the bitter truth about sugar. Damon Gameau embarks on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived as 'healthy'. Through this entertaining and informative journey, Damon highlights some of the issues that plague the sugar industry, and where sugar lurks on supermarket shelves.

A French housekeeper with a mysterious past brings quiet revolution in the form of one exquisite meal to a circle of starkly pious villagers in late 19th century Denmark.

Sophie is a brilliant student. Encouraged by her maths teacher, she leaves the family farm to attend a science preparatory class. Between new encounters, successes and failures, and faced with fierce competition, Sophie realizes that her dream of joining the Polytechnique represents more than an entrance examination but a true challenge of social climbing.

Sweet Gordon, an affable English teacher in Brooklyn, has beaten the odds; a French Girl has fallen in love with him and he’s fallen even harder back. But their future is thrown into limbo when she interviews for an executive chef position in her hometown of Quebec City. To Gordon’s dismay her future boss also happens to be her former lover, a celebrity Chef with oceanic eyes and a hit TV show. Good luck Gordon.

Yuri, 16, has lived all his life in Gagarin Towers, a vast red-brick housing project on the outskirts of Paris. He dreams of becoming an astronaut. When plans to demolish Gagarin Towers leak out, Yuri joins the resistance. With his friends Diana and Houssam, he embarks on a mission to save their home, which has become his “starship.”

Set in France during the struggle for Algerian independence, Messaoud's mother is terminally ill and his father, needing to work long hours in the factory, can't look after him, so decides to put him and his older brother Abdel in foster care. Sent to the countryside, Abdel has to work on a farm, but Messaoud is taken in by a childless woman, who conceals his Arab origins from her fiercely Gaullist ex-army husband. Re-named Michel/Michou, and with his hair comically dyed blond, the young boy quickly steals the hearts of both foster-parents, and eventually is instrumental in saving their troubled marriage.

Marie, an independent and militant woman, has never needed anyone's help, including when it comes to raising her son. When the latter is expelled from his certificate of professional competence training class, Marie cannot accept it. Dreaming of a brighter future for him, she decides to enrol him in one of the best cooking schools in France.

Maggie and Carsten love each other, they have two wonderful children and run their own gourmet restaurant; Malus. They want it all. And they have it all. Almost. They are missing the coveted Michelin Star. It has been their dream, on which they gambled everything to win. One day Carsten receives a letter saying that his wife loves somebody else. But who sent the letter and why? In their continuous passion and pursuit for the ultimate recognition, they forget that the meals of life are best enjoyed together.

A student will do anything to become part of the "in-crowd" at the exclusive school she attends in New York.

Liane, 19 years old, daring and fiery, lives with her mother and little sister under the dusty sun of Fréjus in the South of France. Obsessed with beauty and the need to become “someone”, she sees reality TV as her opportunity to be loved... Fate smiles upon her when she auditions for “Miracle Island”.

An international culinary competition becomes a battleground between rival cooks, one famous for his Cantonese street food and the other a Michelin-starred chef trained in France. But their rivalry takes an unexpected turn when they discover a common foe and combine their skills in a fusion of East and West.

Twelve-year old Theo plays for a local soccer club and has enough talent to eventually go pro. But his father has been on a self-destructive spiral ever since he started drinking and got divorced, and Theo feels powerless and anxious as he watches his dad slowly destroying his own life. But he refuses to give up on him. When a recruiter for a prestigious British club takes notice of him, Theo sees an opportunity to rekindle his father’s hope, but despite all his efforts he is not selected. So he decides to lie and say he was, hoping to make his father happy and proud. Theo’s dad is so overjoyed that he puts all his heart into helping his son prepare for “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” gradually regaining his taste for life and motivation for the future. Until the lie reaches unforeseen proportions and completely spins out of control. Thankfully, Theo’s little lie has already operated big change and generated so much hope, that life is able to get back on track. Only better!

A comedian's relationship with his family crumbles when his career begins to take off.

Love comes without asking. Often not to those, not so and not then. Can a genuine feeling survive when everything started wrong and the whole world is against it? Give up everything or give up? Burn or survive?

Because he wanted to protect his little brother, Teddy, a young man without a history, is accused of the murder of his father and sent to a closed educational center, waiting for his trial for parricide. He then plunges into a brutal universe of which he does not know the rules.

Nour, a 14-year-old boy, is enjoying the summer holidays in the South of France. He is the youngest of four brothers. They live together in a council estate, caring for their mother who is in a coma. Nour dreams of escaping to a faraway place. When he crosses paths with Sarah, an Opera singer teaching summer classes, he finds the opportunity to come out of his shell and explore new horizons.

Gab has a well-ordered life: a fiancée, a wealthy family. Leïla, who struggles to juggle her studies, odd jobs, and a brother to support, does not allow herself to live her own life... When Gab meets Leïla, it is a clash of worlds, the beginning of a great love story that will collide violently with reality.

In 2004, Gregory Lemarchal won the Star Academy live in front of more than ten million people who communicate with him on his an incurable disease, cystic fibrosis.

Telling the true story of Marvin Bijou, a young boy from a working-class family in a small village, who suffers constant bullying at school and home for being ‘different’ – too sensitive and too feminine. A chance encounter with a drama teacher opens the doors to a world that offers him the chance to escape his situation.

After failing the medical entrance exam, Léopold enters midwifery school by default, hiding the truth from those around him. While he is unconvinced of his commitment to this exclusively female environment, his meeting with Nathalie, an experienced midwife with a passionate character, will change his view of this fascinating world and upset his certainties.

Because he forgot his identity card, Elias cannot take the entrance exam to Sciences Po. In search of a job while waiting to be able to take the exam again, he becomes an educator in a children's home. Confronted with an environment he doesn't know how to work, Elias doesn't yet know how much this experience will change his life.

Set in 1889 France, Dodin Bouffant is a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.

Julia Child and Julie Powell – both of whom wrote memoirs – find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

A young Hungarian dreams of playing for the French football team and will get the help of a couple of friends.

A steely special ops agent finds his morality put to the test when he infiltrates a crime syndicate and unexpectedly bonds with the boss' young son.

A fictionalized biopic of Aline Dieu, a multitalented singer from a musically inclined family.

Willy Wonka – chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time – is proof that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.

An Italian immigrant tries to make a new life in Switzerland, taking on a series of increasingly menial jobs in order to do it. He attempts to fit into his new home and society but fails at every turn. Unable to go home again, will his tenacity and optimism be enough to live on?

Ava, an award-winning chef at a big-city restaurant, has lost her spark. Her boss sends her out to find herself to save her menu and her job. She returns home and finds little to inspire her, but when she reunites with her childhood friend Logan, Ava has to get her head out of the clouds and her foot out of her mouth to rediscover her passion for food.

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Alice and Louis are brother and sister. She is an actress; he was a teacher and poet. For more than 20 years, Alice has hated her brother. In all this time they haven’t seen one another. The death of their parents brings the siblings face to face.

After an incident, a brilliant professor known for his outbursts is forced to mentor the student he wronged for a speech contest.

Christine’s life has not been easy lately. Her lonely routine is divided between free food banks distributions and wandering the streets. On a cold winter night she founds Suli, an 8-year-old Eritrean boy, sobbing in front of her shelter. Christine understands that he is lost and has been separated from his mother. Bounded by their marginal condition, they embark together on an emotional journey to find Suli’s mother in the underground world of Paris...

Mattia, a building contractor on a promising career path, is about to close the biggest deal of his professional life, when his illegally-hired worker Kamal falls off some scaffolding, suffers a severe break and threatens to sue and press charges against Mattia unless... Unless Mattia takes his place in an advanced course for pastry makers! This is the reason Kamal came to Italy from his native Egypt and that will allow him to realize his dream of opening his own pastry shop... Mattia has no choice but to take Kamal’s place in the school and pretend to be him. Among laughs and mouth-watering recipes, Mattia will discover a way to bring his and Kamal's disparate cultures together.

Esther is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20 years old girl, Jade. Instead of calling the police she decides to take care of Jade. She sees in her the opportunity to pass on her skills, the craft of dressmaking, her only wealth. In the frenetic world of Haute Couture, Esther will give Jade la beauté du geste, a way to reach beyond herself.

Sparks fly when a humble housekeeper crosses paths with a wealthy surgeon, but a devastating truth puts their relationship to the test.

Anna happily lives with her husband, their two boys, and Simon, 6 years-old, who was placed with her by the Social Care services when he was only 18 months. When Simon’s father decides that he is ready to take his son back with him, the family’s balance is at stake. Anna is torn apart: how could she possibly let go a of child who has always called her ‘Mom’?

Ariel, a young French Jew, decides to leave his family to go to Israel and secretly become an agent of Mossad, the Israeli secret service. After years of training, his first mission is in Paris to steal secrets from Remy Prieur, a French atomic scientist.

Wael, a former street child, makes a living from small scams with his adoptive mother and partner-in-crime Monique. When this unconventional duo swindles the wrong guy, Victor, an old acquaintance of Monique now in charge of a support organization for troubled teens, they have no choice but to become his interim secretary and educator in order to redeem themselves.

Antonio is a 30 year old family man, whose life finds an unexpected twist when he's suddenly dumped by his husband, whom he depends both psychologically and economically: he needs to find a new place to stay, a job and a new purpose in life. Antonio finds a room in an apartment owned by Denis and starts to work in a bakery owned by Luca, while attending pastry school. Through this process he discovers that it was wrong of him to give up his independence for the sake of his relationship in the past.

Claire, an ambitious pastry chef, is busy running her new restaurant, but her meddling mom is preoccupied with her lack of love life. Without her knowledge, Claire’s mother finds her the perfect man, but when Claire finds out it wasn’t fate that brought them together, it could ruin the relationship.

A former footballer living in Brittany enlists his old teammates to help the local fisherman to win some games in order to raise money and save jobs.

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

The whole Bélier family is deaf, except for sixteen year old Paula who is the important translator in her parents' day to day life especially when it comes to matters concerning the family farm. When her music teacher discovers she has a fantastic singing voice and she gets an opportunity to enter a big Radio France contest the whole family's future is set up for big changes.

A French woman mourning over the death of her husband three years prior is courted by a Swedish co-worker.

Zachary, 17 years old, gets out of jail. Rejected by his mother, he hangs out in the mean streets of Marseille. He falls in love with Shéhérazade, a young prostitute of whom he becomes the pimp without realizing it...

Rags follows the story of Charlie Prince, an orphan living with his acerbic and unloving stepfather and spoiled, simple-minded stepbrothers. Charlie's dream is to be a singer, and while he is vocally talented and can write music, he can't seem to catch a break. Kadee Worth, on the other hand, is the daughter of music mogul Reginald Worth and is an international pop phenomenon. While the world knows her as a glamorous superstar, she is secretly frustrated with singing other people's songs and wearing clothes other people choose for her. Kadee wants the world to hear and see her true talent. Despite every obstacle that gets thrown in their way, once Charlie and Kadee find one another, they each finally get what they have been looking for – a voice, a stage, an audience and each other.

For twenty years, Bruno and Malik have lived in a different world—the world of autistic children and teens. In charge of two separate nonprofit organizations (The Hatch & The Shelter), they train young people from underprivileged areas to be caregivers for extreme cases that have been refused by all other institutions. It’s an exceptional partnership, outside of traditional settings, for some quite extraordinary characters.

A young girl from Rouen dreams about directing movies with Julia Roberts. Overprotected by her mother, she hopes to join a prestigeous cinema school in New York City, but nothing happens as expected, and her dreams are cruelly broken. Denying her fate, she leaves France to New York City, with her nutty-aunt's help, dreaming to give her screenplay to Julia Roberts herself.

Drama about a father and son who set out to find their missing daughter/sister with the help of an American headhunter.

The prodigal son of a family in turmoil returns home to his French rural home to reconnect with his family and make sense of their dysfunctions.

After five years enduring horrible work conditions, Sophia finally gets chosen for a long-awaited transfer from her thankless teaching job at a rough middle school. Ecstatic to start a new life teaching at the French Lycée in Barcelona, her hopes are dashed to bits when a well- connected, over-qualified teacher at an upscale Paris school cuts in to take the position. Determined to stand her ground, Sophia and her clever neighbour Mr. Picard join forces to sabotage her competitor’s candidacy.

In the western part of the French Alps: After the drunk driving death of his father, 18-year-old Totone must look after his younger sister. He pursues a €30k Comté cheese award he has no hope of winning. Good thing Marie-Lise takes a liking for him!

Lauren Hennessey has always loved to cook and is a proud perfectionist at her job at "Food & Entertainment Magazine's" test kitchen while she dreams of being able to finally afford culinary school in Paris. When her boss offers her a bonus if she agrees to ghostwrite the cookbook of a difficult celebrity chef, Lauren sees her dream becoming a reality as soon as she can tame the notorious bad boy chef in question, Dexter Durant. Slowly peeling back the layers of Dexter's tough-guy persona, she starts seeing a different, vulnerable side to this big-shot chef. Suddenly, their dueling culinary styles become the perfect complement in the kitchen and an attraction between them starts to boil over.

Freshly hired as a labor nurse in a chemical factory, Nour discovers that small arrangements exist between management and her father, Slimane, the staff representative, and the company's pivot. Lies about polluting discharges, hidden illnesses of employees, hidden accidents ... Nour, little by little, no longer accepts the compromises of his father to preserve the image of the company. She decides to launch the alert.

Djalil Boudaoud and Justine Lacroix are a surgeon and a television reporter who enter a romantic relationship despite the objections of their families to the cultural gap.

Bastien, an ambitious young production assistant, catches the attention of Jean-Louis, a producer of high regard, and is granted a shot at his own television show.

Millicent, working on her thesis about children with severe allergies, is hired to babysit little Johnny, a sickly, mute child who suffers from every allergy under the sun. As she discovers Johnny’s dark family secrets, things begin to become unhinged.

Two young New Yorkers begin to fall in love over the course of a single day, as a series of potentially life-altering meetings loom over their heads - hers concerning her family’s deportation to Jamaica, and his concerning an education at Dartmouth.

A talented Las Vegas chef falls in love with an aspiring fashion designer but turns violently jealous when he realizes that she's hiding dark secrets.

Nacho, a 13 year old boy, crosses the threshold of adolescence trying to find his place in life in all the wrong places: a dysfunctional family and a social setting that is corrupt and violent. Can the purity of first love survive the darkest aspects of our society?

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Local rebellious teenager Clotaire falls for his schoolmate Jackie, but gang violence leads him to a darker destructive path. After years apart, the star-crossed lovers discover that every path they've taken leads them back together.

Florence is a school teacher devoted to her students. When she encounters young Sacha, a child with problems, she will do everything she can to help him, even to the point of neglecting her own children, her own life, and of questioning her vocation. Little by little Florence realizes that learning has no age limit.

Bilal is 17 years old, a Kurdish boy from Iraq. He sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe. He wants to get to England to see his love who lives there. Bilal finally reaches Calais, but how do you cover 32 kilometers of the English Channel when you can't swim? The boy soon discovers that his trip won't be as easy as he imagined... The community of struggling illegal aliens in Calais

The story revolves around Alain, a busy businessman who is always in a rush. In his life, there is no room for spare time or family. But one day, he suffers a stroke, which makes him lose his grasp of language and use one word in place of another.

Lucie, a young dancer suffers an accident. When she wakes up from a coma, she and her partner start training for a dance show. On the way, she starts looking for her estranged father, a path that might lead her to life-changing love.

Street dancer Skyler comes out of the shadow of her trained dancer sister, Tosha, & joins a dance competition with the Honey dance studio; the prize is a college scholarship.

Benjamin is meant to be a great doctor, he’s certain of it. But his first experience as a junior doctor in the hospital ward where his father works doesn’t turn out the way he hoped it would. Responsibility is overwhelming, his father is all but present, and his co-junior partner, a foreign doctor, is far more experimented than he is. This internship will force Benjamin to confront his limits… and start his way to adulthood.

Thomas, a blasé young man, spends his nights in clubs and his days in bed. Until his father, Dr. Reinhard, fed up with his son’s escapades, cuts him off completely and forces him to take care of one of his young patients. Mar- cus, 12, was born with a serious congenital disorder. He lives with his mother in the poor suburbs of Paris and spends his days either at the hospital or in a center for sick children. This encounter will disrupt their lives and change them both, profoundly and forever.

The billionaire is tired of the whims of his own children and decides to teach them a lesson. He announces to them that he has become bankrupt. Now spoiled teenagers will have to do what they have never done: go to work, learn to love and value life.

When a Danish chef travels to Tuscany to sell his father's business, he meets a local woman who inspires him to rethink his approach to life and love.

While working part-time as a food deliveryman, Antoine, an aspiring young rapper from the suburbs of Paris, meets Mrs. Loiseau, an eminent teacher at the Paris Opéra. Stunned by the young man's raw talent, she introduces him to the world of opera. As Antoine becomes one of Mrs. Loiseau's students, he hides his new dream from his friends and family, fearing that they won’t understand – this double life burdens him... Somewhere in between the gilded and uptight Parisian upper-class, and the harsh yet free-spirited and familiar suburbs he grew up in, Antoine will have to find his own voice.

Gabriel can't resist a beautiful woman. But his womanizing attitude is taking a toll on his career and social life. He decides to hire a life coach to help him.

A young Belgian is incited by his imam to view a teacher as an apostate and assassinate her; after he fails, he is sent to juvenile reform.

Samba migrated to France 10 years ago from Senegal, and has since been plugging away at various lowly jobs. Alice is a senior executive who has recently undergone a burnout. Both struggle to get out of their dead-end lives. Samba's willing to do whatever it takes to get working papers, while Alice tries to get her life back on track until fate draws them together.

These old friends now have to train the next football generation with the help of their own offsprings...

Ahmed, 18, is French of Algerian origin. He grew up in the Parisian suburbs. On the benches of the university, he meets Farah, a young Tunisian full of energy recently arrived from Tunis. While discovering a body of sensual and erotic Arabic literature that he never knew existed, Ahmed falls deeply in love with this girl, and although literally overwhelmed by desire, he will try to resist it.

Handed over to foster care by his mother—who's unwilling to give up permanent custody—the now-adolescent François understands that nothing in life is permanent, and his increasingly erratic actions reflect this knowledge.

Primo and Secondo, two immigrant brothers, pin their hopes on a banquet honoring Louis Prima to save their struggling restaurant.

The film tells the story of Malony and his education as he grows from a six-year-old into an 18-year-old. A minors’ judge and a caseworker work tirelessly to try to save the young offender.

Chouf: It means “look” in Arabic, but it is also the name of the watchmen in the drug cartels of Marseille. Sofiane is 20. A brilliant student, he comes back to spend his holiday in the Marseille ghetto where he was born. His brother, a dealer, gets shot before his eyes. Sofiane gives up on his studies and gets involved in the drug network, ready to avenge him. He quickly rises to the top and becomes the boss’s right hand. Trapped by the system, Sofiane is dragged into a spiral of violence…

The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette and her court.
