Their films Aféfé and Kifungo will premiere alongside Period, Alta, and Maré on BET in Africa on March 8, 2024.
By Hope Ibiale
Nigerian Dolapo Adeleke and Kenyan Voline Ogutu, in collaboration with other female filmmakers from Brazil, India, and the US, set to premiere In Bloom, an anthology of five short films, ahead of International Women’s Day.
Adeleke’s Aféfé and Ogutu’s Kifungo will premiere alongside Period, Alta, and Maré on BET in Africa on March 8, 2024. It will also be available on YouTube in India and Africa.
The anthology will debut on Paramount+ on March 1st in various countries including the US, UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, and more. It will also premiere on Pluto TV globally on the same day and air on MTV international channels.
Directed by Dolapo Adeleke, Nicole Teeny, Voline Ogutu, Priyanka Banerjee, and Giuliana Monterio, In Bloom depicts female resilience and empowerment. The film will explore issues related to gender equity. Some of these issues include child marriage, gender-based violence, family planning, period poverty, HIV self-stigma, and women empowerment.
The film will feature Folu Storms, Yasmina El-Abd, Mazel Vyas, Vanessa Giacomo, and Brenda Wairimu.
The In Bloom project was produced by Georgie Arnold, Richard Chang-Warburton, and Sara Piot for MTV Staying Alive Foundation. Nigerian filmmaker, Tope Oshin directed the film and it was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In Bloom will be distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
The anthology is an initiative that is part of MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s storytelling mission to impact lives, as well as Paramount’s “Content for Change” initiative. The series aims to amplify new voices, break the chain of systemic inequalities, and strive to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal Number 5: Gender Equality.