Photo Credit: FKA twigs (@fkatwigs / Instagram)
FKA twigs will play jazz icon Josephine Baker in a new biopic from filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, which starts filming in the fall.
Singer FKA twigs will star as the iconic jazz star Josephine Baker in an upcoming biopic by filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré (“Cuties”), which begins filming in the fall. The film is financed and co-produced by Studiocanal, with worldwide sales for the project to be launched at the Cannes Film Festival this week.
“I am honored to collaborate with the immensely talented Maimouna Doucouré on this incredible project,” said FKA twigs. “Josephine Baker’s extraordinary legacy is such an inspiration to me and to so many people around the world. She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, groundbreaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today. I cannot wait to embody Josephine Baker, bringing her fight, her love, her losses, her talent, and her heroism to the big screen.”
The as-yet untitled biopic will cover Baker’s life story, from her beginnings in St. Louis to her rise to fame after moving to Paris in 1925. The dancer, singer, and actor joined the French Resistance during World War II, supporting the Allied Nations in their fight against fascism, before becoming a prominent civil rights activist in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
“Josephine Baker has lived with me for years. Working on this film, I realize how modern, fearless, and complex she was,” said Doucouré. “Beyond the legend, I want to explore her contradictions, her wounds, and her immense courage, as well as her relentless fight for dignity.”
“With the extraordinary FKA twigs bringing her rare artistry, intelligence, and emotional depth to the role, it is a huge honor to work with Studiocanal to bring Josephine’s story to the screen for a global audience: the story of a woman who never stopped reinventing herself and fighting for justice and equality,” the filmmaker concluded.
The film is being developed with the support of Baker’s sons, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker, as well as the Rainbow Tribe, Baker’s name for her many adopted children. Doucouré will produce the movie under her Bien Ou Bien Prods. banner, in addition to her writing and directing credits, alongside Studiocanal and CPB Films.
“Josephine Baker’s story is one we have long aspired to tell, and do to do so with the exceptional creative vision of Maïmouna Doucouré and the remarkable talent of FKA twigs makes this project especially meaningful,” said Anna Marsh, Studiocanal CEO and chief content officer of Canal+ Group. “Their artistry, combined with Josephine Baker’s enduring legacy, promises a film that is both ambitious and profoundly authentic.”
FKA twigs, who most recently acted in A24’s “Mother Mary,” is represented by UTA, Untitled, UROK, and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Kole. Maïmouna Doucouré is represented by UBBA in France and CAA in the United States.
