Brown Girl Begins

Brown Girl Begins is a Canadian science fiction film, directed by Sharon Lewis and released in 2017.[1] The film was inspired by Nalo Hopkinson's 1998 novel Brown Girl in the Ring, although for budgetary reasons Lewis opted to write and film a prequel story rather than literally adapting the novel itself.[2]

Set in a post-apocalyptic version of Toronto in 2049, the film focuses on a small group of survivors whose continued survival depends on Ti-Jeanne's (Mouna Traoré) response to a potentially life-altering decision.[3] The cast also includes Nigel Shawn Williams, Shakura S'Aida, Emmanuel Kabongo, Rachael Crawford, Andy McQueen and Measha Brueggergosman.

The film premiered at the Urbanworld Film Festival in 2017.[4] It had its general theatrical release in 2018 in conjunction with Black History Month, although due to the film's Afrofuturistic themes its commercial opening was branded as a "Black Futures Month" event.[5]

The film received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, for Best Adapted Screenplay (Lewis) and Best Makeup (Carla Hutchinson).