Sasha Leigh Henry’s comedy series Bria Mack Gets A Life & Leslie Norville’s doc Black Life: Untold Stories among the selected for TIFF 2023 Primetime programme
Among the selected included in The Toronto International Film Festival’s Primetime programme for 2023 is Sasha Leigh Henry’s comedy series Bria Mack Gets A Life and Leslie Norville’s doc Black Life: Untold Stories.
Malaika Hennie-Hamadi will play Bria “Mack” McFarlane, a 25-year-old Black woman and university graduate in a mainly white world, a journey made both difficult and tolerable by Black Attack, her invisible hype girl played by Hannan Younis who helps her navigate life’s frustrations and hurdles.
As Bria balances being the most educated family member and her overdue credit card bill, Black Attack expresses her inner thoughts that reveal who Bria wants to be, but doesn’t believe she’s allowed to. Just as Bria moves back home and her mother looks to retire, she has to assemble her life — friends, dating, a place to live, and most importantly, a job to fund it all — before time runs out.
Bria Mack Gets A Life is executive produced by Leigh-Henry, Mark Montefiore and Tania Thompson, with Angelique Knights and Tamar Bird serving as producers. Leigh-Henry and Kelly Fyffe-Marshall will direct episodes of the homegrown comedy.
BLACK LIFE: UNTOLD STORIES is an eight-part documentary series that reframes the rich and complex histories of Black experiences in Canada, dispelling commonly accepted myths and celebrating the many contributions of Black Canadians. The executive producers are the Emmy Award-winning Leslie Norville, P.K. Subban, Miranda de Pencier, and Nelson George; Sandy Hudson serves as co-executive producer. Consulting producers are the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Shadrach Kabango, Dr. Rinaldo Walcott, and Ravyn Wngz.