On 7 September, shooting kicked off on Joséphine Baker, the third feature by Maïmouna Doucouré, following Cuties (World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival and a Special Mention in Generation Kplus at Berlin, plus a César Award nomination for Best First Feature) and Hawa (Platform competition at Toronto).

Heading up the cast is British artist FKA Twigs (most notably seen in Mother Mary), who is joined by US thesp Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for King Richard, also praised in Origin, The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat and Nickel Boys), Italy's Giuseppe Maggio (Being Maria, the series Mrs Playmen), Grégory Montel (the series Call My Agent! and set to be seen next year in A Quarter to Thursday in Algiers), renowned dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, Féodor Atkine (recently glimpsed in Love Me Tender, Dog 51), Alex Lutz (winner of the César and Lumière Awards for Best Actor for Guy) and Harmony Riley.

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Written by the director and Olivier Lorelle (César Award for Best Original Screenplay for Days of Glory and nominated in the Best Adaptation category for Omar Killed Me), the screenplay tells the incredible life story of Joséphine Baker, tracing her rise to international stardom in 1920s Paris to her commitment to the French Resistance and the US civil rights movement, revealing the fearless, complex and extraordinary woman behind the legend. From a childhood shaped by racial segregation and hardship, young Joséphine Baker escapes 1920s USA to find artistic freedom in dazzling Paris, where she becomes one of the most celebrated stage and film stars of her era. In 1951, when she returns to perform in the United States as both a celebrity and heroine of World War II, Joséphine must confront the complex status of her fame and the injustice she once fled.

Joséphine Baker is being produced by Zangro for Bien ou Bien Productions and by StudioCanal (which will distribute the film in France, the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia and New Zealand, and is also handling international sales), and co-produced by France 3 Cinéma, CPB Films and Leyland Films. Having been pre-purchased by Canal+, Ciné+ OCS and France Télévisions, the feature also benefits from support from the Île-de-France and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions, as well as backing from the Dordogne department. The shoot will run until 13 November in France (Paris and Dordogne) and in Bulgaria, with Antoine Sanier serving as director of photography.