Brown Girl Begins

2017 Canadian film
  • September 23, 2017 (2017-09-23) (Urbanworld)
Running time
95 minutesCountryCanadaLanguageEnglish

Brown Girl Begins is a 2017 Canadian science fiction film, directed by Sharon Lewis.[1] The film was inspired by Nalo Hopkinson's 1998 novel Brown Girl in the Ring, although for budgetary reasons Lewis opted to write and film a prequel story rather than literally adapting the novel itself.[2]

Plot

Set in a post-apocalyptic version of Toronto in 2049, the film focuses on a small group of survivors whose continued survival depends on Ti-Jeanne's (Mouna Traoré) response to a potentially life-altering decision.[3]

Cast

Alongside Traoré, the cast also includes Nigel Shawn Williams, Shakura S'Aida, Emmanuel Kabongo, Rachael Crawford, Andy McQueen and Measha Brueggergosman.

Release

The film premiered at the Urbanworld Film Festival in 2017.[4] It had its general theatrical release in 2018 in conjunction with Black History Month, although due to the film's Afrofuturist themes its commercial opening was branded as a "Black Futures Month" event.[5]

Accolades

The film received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, for Best Adapted Screenplay (Lewis) and Best Makeup (Carla Hutchinson).[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "‘Brown Girl Begins’ is the Canadian sci-fi movie we need right now". Your Morning, February 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "How Sharon Lewis adapted Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring to film". CBC Books, February 22, 2018.
  3. ^ "Brown Girl Begins rethinks Black History" Archived February 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. BeatRoute, February 10, 2018.
  4. ^ "Director Sharon Lewis on Urbanworld debut of ‘Brown Girl Begins’". Amsterdam News, September 21, 2017.
  5. ^ "Brown Girl Begins brings a post-apocalyptic Toronto to life". Q, February 21, 2018.
  6. ^ "Brown Girl Begins (2017) Awards & Festivals". mubi.com. Retrieved May 2, 2023.