EXCLUSIVE: Imani Lewis (First Kill) and Laya DeLeon Hayes (The Equalizer) have attached to star in Pure, the debut feature from writer-director Natalie Jasmine Harris.
Expanding on Harris’ short film of the same name, which was acquired by HBO Max following its festival run, Pure is a coming-of-age story set within the rarely depicted world of Black cotillion culture in suburban Maryland. When Celeste (Lewis), a 17-year-old slam poetry prodigy, is uprooted from her Bay Area community and moved to Maryland’s elite Black suburbs, she’s forced to participate in a prestigious cotillion season. As she prepares to debut into high society, she must confront her burgeoning queer identity and decide what kind of coming-out story she wants for herself.
Yoko Kohmoto served as co-writer on the project and is producing, with Avril Speaks and Britney Ngaw exec producing. The project has received support from leading development labs and markets, including Film Independent Fast Track, The Gotham Week Project Market, Outfest Screenwriting Lab, and the InsideOut LGBTQ+ Financing Forum. It was also selected for the Women In Film x Sundance Institute Financing Intensive and awarded the SFFILM Rainin Screenwriting Grant. Additional support includes the Film Independent Amplifier Fellowship and participation in the New Orleans Film Festival Southern Producers Lab.
An actress and Grammy-winning songwriter, Lewis is best known for starring in the Netflix series First Kill, and for co-writing the hit single “Water” by Tyla. She has written for numerous other artists and her other acting credits include Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, Rashad Frett’s Ricky, Ekwa Msangi’s Farewell Amor, and Premature. Other television credits include Rebecca Cutter’s Hightown, Lee Daniels’ Star, Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down, and Wu-Tang: An American Saga. She is repped by Luber Roklin Entertainment, GOF Talent Management, Innovative Artists, and Granderson Des Rochers.
Hayes recently starred opposite Queen Latifah on the CBS series The Equalizer and is perhaps best known for voicing the titular role in the animated series Doc McStuffins, which earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination. Just nine years old when she booked the landmark role as the first Black animated character on Disney Junior, she is repped by LDH Talent and Eric Suddleson of Felker Toczek Suddleson.
A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Harris’ recent short film Grace premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to screen at Chicago International Film Festival, BlackStar, Palm Springs ShortFest, Frameline, Torino, and HollyShorts. Executive produced by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, it’s now streaming on The Criterion Channel.
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