By Ibrahim Sorious Samura
U.S based Sierra Leonean born actress and filmmaker, Princess Jnap shares lovely moments at the premiere of the blockbuster movie, ‘BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’, last month (November) in Lagos, Nigeria. The Sierra Leonean film sensation was a special guest at the highly glamorous ‘first-of-its-kind’ Hollywood movie screening in Africa.
Top personalities from the movie industry and from many walks of life, were also attracted to this all-important event in Lagos on November 6th 2022, including the Black Panther Wakanda Forever casts and crew.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, a sequel to the 2018 box office hit movie, ‘Black Panther 2’, is an American action superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character.
The film is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole and directed by Ryan Coogler. It continues with the story of T’Challa, the king of Wakanda.
The movie stars Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Dominique Thorne, Isaach de Bankole, Dorothy Steel, and Michaela Coel.
The Nigeria premiere was held in association with the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and FilmOne Entertainment, and celebrated the movie’s African heritage.
Princess was honoured to have a one-on-one session with some crew members, including the Director, Ryan Coogler (Director for Disney). The actress also met and interacted with Chioma Ude, founder of AFRIFF, and Nickyatu, (an African American of Sierra Leonean descent) Director for Amazon Prime, who recently won the Sundance Award for Best Director.
Princess Jnap took to social media to share this awesome moment with her fans:
“When Disney in association with Film One and AFRIFF said you are cordially invited to the Official Africa premier of BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER and the Theme is Afro-futuristic (show them who we are) black carpet… you know I had to rep MAMA SALONE well… Thanks to my Management and Glam Team for putting this look together last minute.. Check my Reel for the full video. There’s level to this game.”
She was also a special guest at the AFRIFF film festival in Lagos, a few days after the Wakanda Forever premiering. Jnap was already scheduled to do a presentation on stage, as she’s highly revered by the organizers, as a smart and intelligent African movie star.
Princess Jnap Sesay, is a Sierra Leonean actress, filmmaker, model and entrepreneur, who also doubles as the founder and CEO of Real Time Management, a film production company, operational in the United States and Africa.
Princess Jnap’s trip to Africa was wrapped up by a short business trip to Johannesburg, South Africa. The Sierra Leonean born was well welcomed and celebrated, with the potential of expanding her personality and business entity.
Many commentators have opined that Princess is gradually becoming the face of the Sierra Leone film industry at the international stage. Just a few months ago, she was spotted chilling with top Ghanaian Actor, Majid Michel in the United States.
Princess is very much influential in the African film industry, meeting top industry top executives and actors, from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and more, and she is majestically making inroads into the big industries, like Hollywood.
She is also believed to have held high level meetings with top executives of Netflix and Amazon Prime, as she anticipates a clear-cut deal with one of the major streaming platforms. Her movies, include THE LENS, are among the top quality movies she has produced over the years, with more blockbuster movies expected from the U.S based Sierra Leonean filmmaker.
Jnap’s curiosity for growth and the quest to showcase her motherland, Sierra Leone, to the wider world, is her topmost priority which is one of the reasons she took time off from work, flew from the United States to Africa, spent about 3 weeks networking and representing Sierra Leone.
In one of the sessions, the Amazon Prime, Director Nickyatu, was extremely proud to find another Sierra Leonean female filmmaker at the African premiere in Lagos, when Princess Jnap had to let everyone know that she’s a Sierra Leonean.
In her words, Nickyatu said,
“This is the first time I’m meeting an intelligent Sierra Leonean female filmmaker in the industry. I’m so proud to meet you.”
Jnap took pride and informed Nickyatu about the enormous opportunities in the Sierra Leone film industry, which is in dire need for a facelift.
