France (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – This summer, Cannes-Europe will once again celebrate one of its most beloved adopted daughters: Joséphine Baker. A sweeping new biopic honouring the legendary singer, wartime spy, and civil rights icon is set to premiere during the D-Day Edition of the Cannes Riviera International Film Festivals, held from 7–12 August 2025.
Marking the centenary of Baker’s arrival in France, the film offers a timely and powerful reflection on a life lived at the intersection of glamour, resistance, and justice. Co-written by Brian Baker, her adopted son, the production promises an intimate portrait of the woman who not only electrified Paris in the Jazz Age but risked her life as a Resistance courier during the Second World War.
“Joséphine Baker’s life reminds us that art and activism need not be separate. She entertained, she resisted, and she fought—on stage and in the shadows,” said one of the festival organisers. “This film is more than a tribute—it’s a necessary reminder.”
The premiere will take place at Cinéma Les Arcades, the heart of the Cannes Riviera festival, and stands as a centrepiece of a broader programme focused on liberation, transatlantic solidarity, and African-American-European dialogue. The France-USA and Africa-USA Film Festivals will run in parallel, offering a thematic bridge between continents and generations.
The Baker biopic arrives amid growing recognition of her legacy. In 2021, she became the first Black woman inducted into France’s Panthéon, a symbolic resting place for national heroes. From her birth in St. Louis, Missouri, to her starring roles on the Paris stage and her espionage work for Free France under Charles de Gaulle, her story defies categorisation. She later adopted 12 children of diverse ethnicities as a statement of unity and marched with Martin Luther King Jr. during the U.S. civil rights movement.
In addition to the Baker biopic, the festival programme includes a new film by acclaimed African director Kola and a poignant documentary about American WWII soldiers buried in France—further reinforcing the theme of remembrance and cultural kinship.
But for many festivalgoers, the Baker premiere will be the defining moment—a long-overdue cinematic homage to a woman who lived without fear and loved without limits.
