FKA Twigs is set to star as American-French entertainer Josephine Baker in a new biopic.
The 38-year-old singer will feature as the dancer, singer and actress in a movie from French filmmaker Maimouna Doucouré about Baker's trailblazing life.
Twigs said in a statement: "I cannot wait to embody Josephine Baker, bringing her fight, her love, her losses, her talent and her heroism to the big screen.
"She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, groundbreaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today."
The biopic has been developed with the cooperation of Baker's surviving sons, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker, both members of the Rainbow Tribe - the multi-ethnic family of 12 children Baker raised at her château in southwest France from the 1950s onwards.
It is the first major film to have the blessing of Baker's estate.
Baker, born Freda Josephine McDonald in St Louis in 1906, became one of the defining figures of the Jazz era after arriving in Paris in 1925 – also becoming the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture in 1927's silent flick Siren of the Tropics.
She then pivoted to wartime service in the French Resistance and later to the US civil rights movement, where she spoke before Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 'I Have a Dream' address at the 1963 march in Washington.
In 2021, France inducted Baker (who died aged 68 in 1975) into the Pantheon, the first Black woman to receive the honour – a seminal moment that elevated her contemporary profile in the country, both as a progressive icon and a symbol of national identity.
Doucouré said in a statement: "Josephine Baker has lived with me for many years. Working on this film, I realise how modern, fearless and complex she was. Beyond the legend, I want to explore her contradictions, her wounds and her immense courage, as well as her relentless fight for dignity."
StudioCanal CEO Anna Marsh added: "Josephine Baker's story is one we have long aspired to tell.
"To do so with the exceptional creative vision of Maimouna Doucouré and the remarkable talent of FKA Twigs makes this project especially meaningful."
Baker's story has been adapted for the screen in the past, most notably in the 1991 television film The Josephine Baker Story – in which the star was portrayed by Lynn Whitfield.
FKA Twigs won her first Grammy Award earlier this year as she took home the prize for Best Dance/Electronic Album for her record Eusexua and has distanced herself from the "pop star" tag.
The Pendulum artist, whose real name is Tahliah Barnett, told ELLE: "I just want everything to be about my work.
"The most interesting part of me is what I do. It’s not who I am.
"I’m not a pop star. And I don’t want to be regarded in that way. I don’t want to have to hold my work up and judge success by data or stats, but [by] the impact it has on culture and the way it makes people feel."
