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Nigerian Short Film Oya: Rise of the Orisas Stars Female Superhero Based in West African Folklore

Oya: Rise of the Orisas is a short film from Nigerian writer and director Nosa Igbinedion that’s already gotten tons of fan support online. Probably because the world really wants to see more female superheroes of color. But what do I know? Anyway, check out the short film above!

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Oya has an all-black cast and is based on the legends of the Orixa, traditional gods of West African Yoruban folklore. In the film, they have returned to the modern-day world as badass superheroes. The story follows Mother Oya, who inhabits the body of one of her followers to come to the rescue of a kidnapped student, and while this version of the story is only 12-minutes long, there’s a feature-length version that’ll start production later this month in Brazil!

Oh, and bee-tee-dubs, there’s also a comic you can pre-order, because you know you’re going to want to get all sorts of immersed in this universe. Oh, and there’s also a companion digital series in production as well! Want to immerse yourself in the world of the Orisas even further? Show them some love on Facebook and Twitter!

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Teresa Jusino
Teresa Jusino (she/her) is a native New Yorker and a proud Puerto Rican, Jewish, bisexual woman with ADHD. She's been writing professionally since 2010 and was a former TMS assistant editor from 2015-18. Now, she's back as a contributing writer. When not writing about pop culture, she's writing screenplays and is the creator of your future favorite genre show. Teresa lives in L.A. with her brilliant wife. Her other great loves include: Star Trek, The Last of Us, anything by Brian K. Vaughan, and her Level 5 android Paladin named Lal.

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