Variety reports that a new documentary, Eddie Palmieri: Sweet Sweet Sugar, is currently in production, chronicling the life and cultural impact of Eddie Palmieri — the Grammy-winning pianist, composer, and bandleader whose work helped revolutionize salsa and Latin jazz. The announcement was published February 12, 2026.

According to the report, the film is being directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Omar Acosta and is being made in cooperation with the Eddie Palmieri Estate. The production is set to include complete access to Palmieri’s full music catalogue, along with previously uncirculated archival footage.

The documentary is described as spanning the musical, social, political, and cultural landscape of Spanish Harlem and the Bronx — the New York neighborhoods where Palmieri was born and raised — tracing a crucial era from the 1950s through the 1980s, as Latin music evolved into the period associated with salsa dura and broader cultural transformation in New York.

Variety notes that the film will explore how Palmieri helped shape one of Latin music’s most pivotal periods and how his innovations contributed to a blueprint that influenced modern salsa and Latin jazz. The project is positioned as both a musical portrait and a wider cultural story rooted in the experience of the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York.

The film is being produced by David Kennedy and Nick Quested through Goldcrest Films, in a co-production with Uprising Music NYC. Eddie Palmieri II and Zoilo R. Torres are listed as executive producers.

The Variety announcement frames the documentary as a major new project aimed at preserving, contextualizing, and amplifying Palmieri’s legacy through archival materials, music access, and a narrative that connects his sound to the cultural history of New York and Latin music’s global evolution.

Source: Jem Aswad, “Eddie Palmieri: Sweet Sweet Sugar,’ Documentary on Legendary Puerto Rican Pianist and Bandleader, Coming From Filmmaker Omar Acosta,” Variety, February 12, 2026.
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