Yusuf’s project Layla and the Starship Afrotopia will be funded and developed by the fellowship alongside Kamau Bilal’s Brick Thieves, Sarah Mokh’s Diary of a Muslim Cynic, and Razi Jafri’s Sanctuary, Purgatory.
By Hope Ibiale
Nigerian filmmaker, Jumai Yusuf, has been announced as one of the filmmakers selected for the newly inaugurated Sundance Institute | The Walt Disney Company Muslim Artist Fellowship.
Yusuf’s project Layla and the Starship Afrotopia will be funded and developed by the fellowship, alongside Kamau Bilal’s Brick Thieves, Sarah Mokh’s Diary of a Muslim Cynic, and Razi Jafri’s Sanctuary, Purgatory. These projects will be developed with a grant of $15,000.
Layla and the Starship Afrotopia tells the story of Layla, a shy black Muslim girl who discovers the power to create wormholes. After this discovery, Layla is taken from her hometown to Afrotopia, a spaceship searching for a home planet. The fellowship describes the project as an “afro-futurist coming-of-age animated series”.
While speaking about the fellowship and the partnership with Walt Disney, Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Sundance Institute’s director of artist accelerator and women at Sundance programs said, “Our partnership with the Walt Disney Company will help further opportunities to uplift Muslim artists and their narratives. Supporting these artists through a bespoke fellowship will not only elevate Muslim representation but also bring more visibility to their stories”. The director of creative talent pathways, representation & inclusion strategies at Disney Mahin Ibrahim also expressed Disney’s excitement over the fellowship’s aim to build and inspire the next generation of filmmakers.
Jumai Yusuf is an African director, writer, producer, and Nigerian immigrant who is passionate about telling BIPOC genre stories. Her work has been supported by the Black List and MPAC Hollywood.
The Sundance Institute | The Walt Disney Company Muslim Artist Fellowship is an initiative to offer a year-round professional development experience and foster a positive impact on film and television. It aims to empower four Muslim artists with creative and technical support. The fellowship will also offer support from the Sundance Institute. The participants will have access to networking and community-building events that will allow the selected artists to connect with other creatives and industry professionals.