Janelle Monáe, the eight-time Grammy nominee and SAG winner who you may hopefully caught in Moonlight or Hidden Figures has lined up a new series with A24, and it sounds like a winner. She’ll star in De La Resistance, the true story of the iconic Josephine Baker, who split her career between being a glamorous jazz entertainer and fighting Nazis on behalf of the Allies in France during World War II.
A24 has been branching into TV with shows like Euphoria and Ramy, but De La Resistance will be the company’s first period picture, highlighting Baker’s time as a performer by day and freedom fighter by night. Known as “Black Venus” and the “Creole Goddess,” Baker was the toast of Paris during the 1920s for her Un Vent de Folie. She then joined the French Resistance and was honored for her courage by famed French General Charles de Gaulle. Following the war, Baker returned to the U.S. and became active in the Civil Rights Movement, refusing to perform for segregated audiences and growing close to Coretta Scott King following her husband’s assassination.
Monáe has been open about her admiration for Baker, even modeling her look after her at this year’s Met Gala. No word on a release date for this series, but it should be an interesting one.
