FKA Twigs to Play Josephine Baker in New Biopic From Cuties Director Maimouna Doucouré

FKA Twigs is set to begin filming a biopic about Josephine Baker later this year, taking on what looks to be her most demanding film role yet.

The as-yet-untitled project comes from writer-director Maimouna Doucouré, whose films include Cuties and Hawa. The film, financed and co-produced by Studiocanal, is being shopped at the Cannes Film Festival, which opens Tuesday, May 12, and runs through May 23.

Twigs, born Tahliah Debrett Barnett, confirmed the casting in a statement quoted by Variety.

“I am honored to collaborate with the immensely talented Maïmouna Doucouré on this incredible project. Josephine Baker’s extraordinary legacy is such an inspiration to me and to so many people around the world. She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, groundbreaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today. I cannot wait to embody Josephine Baker bringing her fight, her love, her losses, her talent and her heroism to the big screen.”

Doucouré will write, direct and produce the film through her Bien Ou Bien Prods. banner.

The role puts Twigs in the part of Baker, the St. Louis-born singer, dancer, actress and activist who made her name in France and became the first Black woman to star in a major film, the 1927 silent movie Siren of the Tropics. Baker was also a French Resistance spy during World War II, smuggling coded messages to France from opposing forces hidden inside her lyrics. She later became the only female speaker at the 1968 Poor People’s March for civil rights in Washington, D.C.

Known as “Black Venus,” Baker stepped away from the stage to raise what she called her “Rainbow Tribe” of 12 adopted children from different countries and backgrounds. She died in April 1975 at age 68, after a show at the Bobino Theater in Paris.

Variety reports that the project has the support of Baker’s sons, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker, along with the other members of the Rainbow Tribe.

“Josephine Baker has lived with me for years,” Doucouré said in a statement. “Working on this film, I realize how modern, fearless and complex she was. Beyond the legend, I want to explore her contradictions, her wounds and her immense courage, as well as her relentless fight for dignity. With the extraordinary FKA Twigs bringing her rare artistry, intelligence and emotional depth to the role, it is a huge honor to work with Studiocanal to bring Josephine’s story to the screen for a global audience: the story of a woman who never stopped reinventing herself and fighting for justice and equality.”

Studiocanal plans to release the film theatrically in its territories, including the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Benelux, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. No North American distribution has been announced.

Twigs can currently be seen in theaters in Mother Mary, the Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel musical drama. She also released her fourth studio album, Eusexua: Afterglow, in November.

FKA Twigs at the “Mother Mary” New York Special Screening held at the Metrograph on April 13, 2026 in New York, New York. John Nacion/Variety