Irish star Maria Doyle Kennedy has joined the cast of the Untitled Granny Lee Film, a drama inspired by a real-life transgender icon.
The film features South African gender activist Simone Heradien as the lead and Québec performer Paul Ahmarani (Who By Fire).
The trans disco queen’s story, directed by father-son team Ian Gabriel and Gabe Gabriel, centers on identity, resilience, and forgiveness, and is set in Johannesburg during the 1980s Apartheid era. After the boy she raised dies, the child’s estranged mother makes an appearance in her personal quest for forgiveness, challenging the queen’s sense of motherhood.
This film comes at a time of unrest and amplified discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. Kennedy acknowledges that this film may be just what the world needs.
“The world feels very precariously balanced right now; it is the time to acknowledge the wrongs of the past in order not to carry them into the future,” says Maria Doyle Kennedy.
For Heraden, this film is personal. She has expressed her enthusiasm to use her activism background and knowledge to bring voices to the front lines that have not been heard.
“For me, this film is not only my big screen debut, but a deeply personal celebration of trans visibility, legacy, and love. Stepping into this role honours the resilience, glamour, and defiance of LGBTIQ+ lives sought at times to be erased from history,” says Heradien.
Principal photography is scheduled to begin at the end of May and run through to the end of June in Cape Town.
“I’m so grateful to be part of this deeply human film. Helping bring this chapter of South African history to light is a true privilege,” says Ahmarani.
The project has received support from a plethora of organizations: Film Independent, the Durban FilmMart Institute, the Junior Entertainment Talent Slate, and Inside Out Finance Forum.
The film is a Canada-South Africa-Ireland co-production, a Québec-Ontario co-production, and is the first project to use the recently modernized Canada-South Africa co-production treaty.
The film is produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada, Eurimages, SODEC, Screen Ireland, and the National Film and Video Foundation.
The Gabriel duo previously worked together on the GLAAD Media Award-nominated film Runs in the Family, which was released on Netflix worldwide in 2023. The screenplay was penned by Gabe Gabriel. Producers include Shant Joshi of Fae Pictures (In Flames), Yanick Letourneau of Périphéria (Night of the Kings), Cindy Gabriel of Giant Films (Four Corners), Roelof Storm of Wolflight Films (Kanarie), and Tamryn Reinecke of Pale Rebel Productions (It Is In Us All). Alexandra Billings, Conor Barry, and Maria Doyle Kennedy are amongst the executive producers.
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