MTV Staying Alive Foundation has produced an anthology of short films on gender equality titled In Bloom, with Tope Oshin, Dolapo Lola Adeleke and Folu Storms on the project.
The five-part short film was produced as an initiative by MTV Staying Alive Foundation, in partnership with Paramount Global and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the mission of championing new voices and enabling conversations to dismantle systemic injustices in support of the United Nations’ gender equality goal.
Oshin, a Nigerian TV and film director and board member of UN Live, was the creative lead of the project. The films were directed by female filmmakers from Nigeria, Kenya, India, the US and Brazil. It addresses a range of issues including period poverty, child marriage, gender-based violence, HIV and AIDS stigma, family planning and women’s economic empowerment.
Folu Storms stars in the Nigerian episode titled Aféfé. It is written and directed by Adeleke (Nigeria) and follows a beautician whose life takes a frightening turn when her elderly and ailing mother-in-law moves in unexpectedly.
The comedy-drama Period, written and directed by Nicole Teeny (US), follows Fay (Yasmina El-Abd) who cannot afford menstrual products, and so she sets out on a crusade to get them for free.
In the Bengali drama Alta, written and directed by Priyanka Banerjee (India), a defiant teenager (Mazel Vyas) refusing to come out of the bathroom forces her helpless father to seek help, but things take a turn when their true relationship is revealed.
In the Portuguese social realist drama Maré, written and directed by Giuliana Monteiro(Brazil), a mother (Vanessa Giácomo) on the edge of her sanity seeks solace from a tumultuous life situation.
And then finally, in the Swahili psychological horror Kifungo, written and directed by Voline Ogutu (Kenya), an ambitious romantic (Brenda Wairimu) struggles with self-acceptance after finding out that she is HIV positive.
Details of its debut include a premiere on Paramount+ on March 1, 2024, across the US, UK, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan and South Korea, in celebration of Women’s history month.
On the same day, it will also premiere on Pluto TV globally, and roll out across MTV international linear channels. And then on March 8, 2024, International Women’s Day it will debut on BET in Africa.
Following that, will be India and Africa’s premiere on YouTube, after which a global content distributor will take over distribution rights.
