The life of South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba is headed to the big screen, Variety reports.
The film will be a combined effort between the Miriam Makeba Estate, Miriam Makeba Foundation, and Mama Africa Cultural & Social Trust. Suzanne de Passe (“Lady Sings the Blues”) and Madison Jones of de Passe Jones Entertainment are producing.
As Variety writes, “Makeba was one of the key voices against apartheid and popularized African music starting in the late 1950s. She was South Africa’s first Grammy winner and a Top 10 artist, recording and performing songs in English, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Swahili. Makeba worked with Harry Belafonte, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, Nina Simone, Odetta, Hugh Masekela, and Paul Simon. Her South African citizenship was revoked in 1963. She was part of Simon’s Graceland tour and performed in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute in 1988. Mandela was freed from prison in 1990 and persuaded Makeba to return to South Africa later that year.”
Makeba passed away in 2008 at the age of 76. Neither a writer nor a director has been announced, but this project sounds like a great opportunity to hire some women, particularly women of color.