Brown Girl Begins
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''Brown Girl Begins'' is a 2017 Canadian
science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...
, directed by
Sharon Lewis Sharon M. Lewis is a Canadian television personality and film director from Toronto, Ontario. She studied political science at the University of Toronto.John McKay, "Sharon Lewis finds activism experience a plus for new role as CounterSpin host, ...
. The film was inspired by
Nalo Hopkinson Nalo Hopkinson (born 20 December 1960) is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels – ''Brown Girl in the Ring (novel), Brown Girl in the Ring'' (1998), ''Midnight Robber'' (2000), ''The Salt Roads'' (2003), ' ...
'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.


Plot

Set in a post-apocalyptic version of
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
in 2049, the film focuses on a small group of survivors whose continued survival depends on Ti-Jeanne's (
Mouna Traoré Mouna Traoré (born May 4, 1995) is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She is known for her performances in a variety of television series, such as Global TV's ''Rookie Blue'' (2012), CBC's ''Murdoch Mysteries'' (2015–2018), and Netflix's ''Th ...
) response to a potentially life-altering decision.


Cast

Alongside Traoré, the cast also includes
Emmanuel Kabongo Emmanuel Kabongo (born Christmas, December 25, 1986) is a Black Canadians, Canadian actor and film producer. Born and raised in Zaire, now present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kabongo Immigration, immigrated to Canada and began his actin ...
,
Nigel Shawn Williams Nigel Shawn Williams is a Canadian actor and theatre director from Toronto, Ontario.
,
Shakura S'Aida Shakura S'Aida is a Canadian blues vocalist, songwriter and actress. She is sometimes credited Shakura. History Shakura S'Aida was born in Brooklyn and lived in Switzerland before moving to Canada. S'Aida was lead singer of the 13-piece world ...
, Rachael Crawford,
Andy McQueen Andy McQueen (born July 18, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He is most noted for his performance in the 2019 film ''Disappearance at Clifton Hill'', for which he received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 8th Canadia ...
and
Measha Brueggergosman Measha Brueggergosman–Lee (née Gosman; June 28, 1977) is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular m ...
.


Release

The film premiered at the Urbanworld Film Festival in 2017. It had its general theatrical release in 2018 in conjunction with
Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...
, although due to the film's
Afrofuturist Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture ...
themes its commercial opening was branded as a "Black Futures Month" event.


Accolades

The film received two
Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
nominations at the
7th Canadian Screen Awards The seventh annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 31, 2019, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2018.Best Adapted Screenplay (Lewis) and Best Makeup (Carla Hutchinson).


See also

*
List of Afrofuturist films In film, Afrofuturism is the incorporation of black people's history and culture in science fiction film and related genres. ''The Guardian''s Ashley Clark said the term Afrofuturism has "an amorphous nature" but that Afrofuturist films are "unite ...


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 5240730 *
Brown Girl Begins
' at
Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...
2017 films 2017 science fiction films Afrofuturist films Canadian science fiction films Black Canadian films English-language Canadian films Films based on Canadian novels Films based on science fiction novels 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films 2010s dystopian films Canadian post-apocalyptic films Films set in Toronto Films shot in Toronto English-language science fiction films