International production company MUBI has officially secured the rights to The African Desperate, a feature-length film that recently premiered globally at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and for domestic audiences at New York’s New Directors/New Films festival. MUBI, a production company and film-based streaming service, will premiere The African Desperate on September 16th.
The African Desperate features emerging actress Diamond Stingily as Palace Bryant, an artist and recent MFA graduate from a mostly-white liberal arts college in upstate New York, as her final day at school becomes a “psychedelic odyssey,” according to the film’s official synopsis. The African Desperate will follow Palace as she navigates the highs and lows of the art world over the course of a single harrowing day ending in a Chicago Blue Line Station.
Behind the Making of ‘The African Desperate’
The African Desperate, which will be exclusively available on MUBI after its theatrical run, is directed by Martine Syms (Incense, Sweaters & Ice) and produced by Syms, Rocket Caleshu, and Vic Brooks of the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, or EMPAC, a division of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Sadie Coles and Bridget Donahue will serve as executive producers for the film alongside Lana Kim and Jeff Steiger of Ways & Means, an LA creative studio.
Regarding The African Desperate and the deal with MUBI, Syms spoke to Deadline:
“Mubi was my top choice while I was working on The African Desperate. I’m overjoyed to be partnering with them to bring my film into the world…The African Desperate is a self-funded project. I had a vision and I took a risk to make it a reality. I want to make epic, thoughtful, imaginative films that speak to MY reality. Mubi’s interest in the project proves that this kind of filmmaking is essential right now.”
The African Desperate is slated to be released globally to theaters on September 16th, 2022. Following its theatrical premiere, the film will be exclusively available to stream on MUBI.