The first black woman to direct a Hollywood film says she was turned down repeatedly for projects because her ideas were “too black”, even after Marlon Brando earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in her film about apartheid, A Dry White Season.

Euzhan Palcy – whose work is part of Black History Month seasons at the Barbican in London and Home in Manchester – broke through in the mid-1980s with her film Sugar Cane Alley but stepped away from Hollywood in the 90s after repeated rejections.

Q&A What is Black History Month? Show Founded by Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, the first Black History Month in the UK was celebrated in October 1987. He conceived it as "an annual celebration of the contributions of Africa, Africans and people of African descent to world civilisation from antiquity to the present".

It took its cue from the established Black History Month that had taken place in the US every February since it was first adopted by staff and students at Kent State University in Ohio in 1970, and which had built into a national movement. Its origins go back to 1926, when the second week in February was designated as a week to celebrate and discuss African-Americans' contribution to history. One of the key reasons for starting Black History Month in the UK was the under-representation of BAME people in the mainstream British history taught in schools, and to ensure that the history and heritage of the African diaspora was preserved and celebrated.

After winning the Silver Lion at the Venice film festival in 1983, the Martinique director was courted by Hollywood, where in 1989 she made A Dry White Season, an adaptation of André Brink’s book, but found that other stories with black lead characters were quickly rejected by executives.

Palcy with Marlon Brando during the filming of A Dry White Season. Photograph: Entertainment Pictures/Alamy

“They were very matter of fact: they’d ask: ‘Can’t the lead be white?’” she said. “I was pitching a story about a black freedom fighter and they asked me if he could be white. Incredible things like that.”

“It wasn’t meant to be insulting. For them it was just normal. They loved my film-making and the stories, but eventually they would say: ‘Sorry it’s too black. Our marketing department cannot sell it.’”

Palcy is regarded in a similar light to Julie Dash, the director of the 1992 Sundance festival hit Daughters of the Dust, as a black female film-maker who has been overlooked. The Barbican’s season is called Hidden Figures and focuses on “great directors who deserve greater recognition in the UK”.

Q&A What is Black History Month? Show Founded by Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, the first Black History Month in the UK was celebrated in October 1987. He conceived it as "an annual celebration of the contributions of Africa, Africans and people of African descent to world civilisation from antiquity to the present".

It took its cue from the established Black History Month that had taken place in the US every February since it was first adopted by staff and students at Kent State University in Ohio in 1970, and which had built into a national movement. Its origins go back to 1926, when the second week in February was designated as a week to celebrate and discuss African-Americans' contribution to history. One of the key reasons for starting Black History Month in the UK was the under-representation of BAME people in the mainstream British history taught in schools, and to ensure that the history and heritage of the African diaspora was preserved and celebrated.

Palcy said she decided to focus on writing screenplays and helping to develop young film-makers, rather than making films herself, when she realised Hollywood wanted “diluted versions” of her ideas that required white characters to secure financing.

“I couldn’t compromise and betray the very reason why I decided to be a film-maker,” she said. “People would ask ‘why did she disappear?’ Then I explain to them the choice I made, they say it’s a waste of your talent. I say no, I would have hated myself and I would have been miserable. I may be crazy, but I can’t change how I am.”

Palcy said she had three “spiritual mentors” who helped her develop as a film-maker: Aimé Césaire, the Martinique poet and founder of the négritude movement, supported her when she came to Paris in her 20s; François Truffaut, the French New Wave director, encouraged her to make Sugar Cane Alley after reading her screenplay; and Robert Redford acted as an adviser to the young director after seeing her first film and championed her in the US. “Robert Redford saw Sugar Cane Alley and he loved it,” she said. “He was like a godfather to me – any problems I just had to call him.”

Palcy on set in 1989. Photograph: Photo 12/Alamy

The director said the recent OscarsSoWhite movement and Time’s Up were both positive steps to addressing the issues that stymied her Hollywood career. “These are values that I stood by for many years. It’s taken time, too much time. But it is happening slowly,” she said.

Palcy said the achievements of Ava DuVernay and Shonda Rhimes, who has a multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix for projects with diverse casts, shows the progress that had been made. “For many years I felt like I was by myself talking about these issues of racism and sexism in film. Now I am not alone.”