FKA Twigs is set to portray Josephine Baker in a Studiocanal-produced biopic directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, with worldwide sales launching at Cannes.
FKA Twigs is stepping into one of entertainment’s most powerful legacies: the singer and dancer is set to play Josephine Baker in a biopic produced by Studiocanal and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré.
Twigs. who framed the casting as both an honor and a personal creative challenge. said she is eager to bring Baker to the big screen.. She described Baker’s story as inspirational for people around the world. emphasizing that the role calls for more than glamour. with the dancer’s fight. love. losses. talent. and heroism all central to the performance.
Baker’s rise began in the spotlight of the Roaring Twenties. She became one of the most beloved cabaret performers at the Folies Bergère in Paris, earning recognition for her stage presence long before her later global breakthrough.
Her breakthrough into film history arrived in 1927 with the silent movie “Siren of the Tropics,” in which Baker starred as a native girl from the West Indies who falls in love with a French man. The project marked a milestone, as she became the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture.
While Baker’s early career cemented her fame, her legacy deepened dramatically during World War II. In that period, she became an intelligence agent for the French Resistance, using her celebrity status to move through occupied France while concealing the true purpose of her presence.
The report noted that Baker helped smuggle information on Nazi troop positions to the Allied Forces. Importantly, it also said the full extent of her service was not widely known until 2020, when documents about her wartime work were declassified by the French government.
After the war, Baker’s influence continued to expand, now intersecting directly with the fight for civil rights in the United States. The biopic coverage highlighted her refusal to perform in segregated clubs and the consequence she faced when her work visa was lost due to her protests.
Her activism also included participation in Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington. a moment that further positioned her as more than a star of stage and screen.. Alongside her public stand. Baker also embraced family as a form of cultural statement. adopting 12 children of various ethnicities and describing them as her “Rainbow Tribe.”
The report included Baker’s own words explaining her belief that children of different ethnicities and religions could still be brothers.. That idea of belonging and shared humanity is part of why her story has resonated for decades. and it now appears set to be carried into the narrative framework of the biopic.
The film will be developed with the cooperation of surviving members of the Rainbow Tribe, including Baker’s sons Jean-Claude and Brian Boullion Baker. That involvement signals a focus on stewardship of the story, especially for details that go beyond the headlines and into lived experience.
Maïmouna Doucouré also weighed in on the project, saying Josephine Baker has been a presence with her for years.. In her remarks. Doucouré pointed to Baker’s modernity. describing her as fearless and complex. and expressed a desire to explore not just the legend but also contradictions. wounds. and the courage that drove her actions.
Doucouré further emphasized what she intends the film to capture: a relentless fight for dignity, as well as a continual willingness to reinvent herself. With Twigs cast to bring artistry, intelligence, and emotional depth to the role, the project is being shaped for a global audience.
Studiocanal is set to launch worldwide sales at Cannes. with the biopic slated for theatrical release in territories including the UK. France. Germany. Italy. Benelux. Poland. Australia. and New Zealand.. That rollout plan suggests the studio is positioning the story not only as a cultural event. but as an international theatrical moment.
The production will be made by Bien Ou Bien alongside Studiocanal. FKA Twigs is represented by UTA, Untitled, UROK and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Kole, while Doucouré is represented by UBBA in France and CAA in the U.S.
For audiences. the casting choice adds another layer of anticipation: Twigs’ profile in contemporary music and performance arrives at the start of a story that spans cabaret stardom. groundbreaking film history. wartime resistance work. and postwar activism.. If the film leans into Doucouré’s stated goal of portraying Baker’s contradictions and resilience. it may connect multiple eras of cultural change through one central life.
FKA Twigs Josephine Baker biopic Maïmouna Doucouré Studiocanal Cannes worldwide sales French Resistance