Jumai Yusuf, a Nigerian-American filmmaker, has been named among the newly selected fellows for the inaugural Sundance Institute | The Walt Disney Company Muslim Artist Fellowship. She joins Kamau Bilal, Razi Jafri, and Sarah Mokh who complete the list of four.
Jumai Yusuf, a Nigerian-American director, writer, and producer, is enthusiastic about telling genre stories that centre BIPOC characters. Her work has previously been supported by the Black List and MPAC Hollywood. Her project, Layla and the Starship Afrotopia, follows Layla, a timid black Muslim girl who finds the ability to create wormholes. Following Layla’s discovery, she is transported from her community to Afrotopia, a starship looking for a home planet.
The Sundance Institute | The Walt Disney Company Muslim Artist Fellowship characterises Jumai’s project as an “afro-futurist coming-of-age animated series”, and will support and help her expand the project alongside Kamau Bilal’s Brick Thieves, Sarah Mokh’s Diary of a Muslim Cynic, and Razi Jafri’s Sanctuary, Purgatory. The projects will be developed with a funding sum of $15,000.
The Sundance Institute | The Walt Disney Company Muslim Artist Fellowship is a year-round professional development programme that aims to make a positive influence in cinema and television. Its goal is to provide four Muslim artists with creative and technical support. The Sundance Institute will also provide support through the fellowship. Participants will have access to networking and community-building events, allowing the chosen artists to engage with other creatives and industry experts.
