Sasha Morfaw (Black Panther), Jimmy Jean-Louis (Claws, Heroes), Sufe Bradshaw (Veep), Sydelle Noel (GLOW), and Peter Mensah (300) will star in the indie film Rise from first-time feature director Maritte Go.
The dramatic thriller is inspired by the real-life conflict between the Nigerian people and the Boko Haram insurgency, the jihadist rebel organization responsible for kidnapping hundreds of girls and women and enslaving them in the sex trade.
Co-written by Go and Broderick Engelhard, the pic follows an eighteen-year-old Nigerian princess (Morfaw) who allows herself to be kidnapped by the Boko Haram in a harrowing attempt to save her younger sister, eventually going head to head against the Boko Haram’s most dangerous and calculating leader (Jean-Louis).
Eric B. Fleischman of Defiant Studios is producing the project alongside Maurice Fadida of Kodiak Pictures. Executive producers are Mickey Gooch, Jr. and G.D.Guyer of Kodiak, Andre Druskeit of Telepool, Emily Siegel, and Kewku Mandela.
Morfaw is repped by Brillstein Partners; Jean-Louis by Global Artists Agency and Buffalo 8 Management; Bradshaw by TCA MGMT; Noel by Management 360 and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Mensah by Cheri Barner Management and TCA MGMT.
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