Filmmakers NA!RA (Vantage Poynt Pictures) and Celestina Aleobua (ThatAfrikan Productions) partner to develop a new television series called Jaded — selected to take part in The Big Pitch 2023 competition held in partnership with Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The series set in modern-day offers a witty yet lighthearted look into the dynamic world of two first-generation Nigerian-American women on not so glamorous paths to reinvent themselves.

The duo will not only write and direct, but will also star in the project. In describing the inspiration for the story, NA!RA (recording artist and filmmaker featured in Season 2 of Netflix’s Afrobeats: The Backstory) said, “our lives are filled with colorful, chaotic and highkey hilarious moments as children of Nigerian parents. Celestina and I bonded over the shared realization that our experiences in the diaspora are not uncommon, just rarely televised in North America”.

Celestina, who is concurrently developing a documentary with the Netflix-funded program Being Black in Canada commented, “we are interested in bridging the gap between the growing global audience interested in African content and diasporic stories. Jaded aims to highlight the beauty of our culture, but also inspire the audience to forge their own identity — fearlessly.”

About Celestina | @thatafrikan | www.celestinaaleobua.com

Celestina Aleobua is an Actress, Writer, Director, and Producer based in Toronto, Canada. Born in Lesotho to Nigerian parents and raised in South Africa, Celestina has a passion for telling stories that preserve African culture and history. As a filmmaker, her narratives focus on cultural enlightenment through the creation of authentic black stories. Celestina is the founder of ThatAfrikan Productions and has written, produced, directed and starred in numerous films and TV shows, including Second Wind (2022), Finch (2019), The People of Sand (2018), Showtime’s Fellow Travellers (2023), and Skydance/ Amazon Studio’s Reacher (2022). She hopes to continue rising and sharing her talents with the art of storytelling.

About NA!RA | @fearlesslynaira | www.fearlesslynaira.com

NA!RA is an award winning Nigerian-American recording artist, Creative Director and

filmmaker. A passionate steward of storytelling, her accomplishments include 3 studio album releases and over 20 film/television projects. She is most noted for juxtaposing African culture with poetic visuals, vibrant worlds, thoughtful dialogue, and multidimensional characters. Through company Vantage Poynt Pictures, her screen credits include: screenwriter, director, editor, cinematographer, actor and music composer. In 2022, NA!RA made her directorial debut with “In the Stillness” and was awarded Eastern Nigerian International Film Festival (ENIFF) 2022 Best Short Film. The short film serves as the visual complement to the forthcoming studio album release and has screened at 7 national and international film festivals.

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