RT Pride Rising Stars 2024 – T'Nia Miller's picks
Our Pride Month Guest Editor champions those who deserve their flowers.
Every year, more and more rising stars come up through the ranks of film and TV, whether it's acting talent or those behind the camera – but there are also those who have been plugging away for years, who just deserve a bit more recognition.
So, this year, RadioTimes.com Pride Month Guest Editor T'Nia Miller has championed her favourite LGBTQ+ rising stars in front and behind the camera. Some of them are newer names and some of them will be more recognisable – but all of them, as she says should be "given their flowers".
From actors like Waleed Akhtar to producers like Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor and filmmakers like Neelu Bhuman, make sure to check out all of these talents.
For now, we're handing over to T'Nia to tell us exactly why they made her list.
Waleed Akhtar
Waleed Akhtar is a Pakistani actor and writer and a sheer genius whose brilliant bold subversive work navigates difficult and sensitives topics through a comedic lens.
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He was crowned with an Olivier award for his show The P Word. He was also a writer on Paramount's Road Trip and he makes a guest appearance in Miriam Margolyes's Bucket on BBC.
Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
Joy Gharoro Akpojotor is a Nigerian producer, writer and director. There is much excitement in the industry about her latest show and directorial debut, Dreamers, which has just wrapped. Dreamers is a love story set in the backdrop of an immigration removal centre. She also produced the hit Blue Story, which became the top grossing film of its genre.
In 2020, she was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough, as well as Joi Productions receiving a BFI Vision Award. At the end of 2021, she produced Aml Ameen’s debut, Boxing Day, the first all-black Christmas film out of the UK. More recently, Joy has produced Champions for BBC and Netflix.
Kevin Morosky
Kevin Morosky is a Jamaican director, auteur, and poet. They say some people are before their time and perhaps this is true of Morosky. His work is unbridled, unapologetic evocative, controversial and important! It’s his use of imagery and poetry that captures my heart and attention.
Some of his credits include short films, the award-winning Spun and Bruce (featured on Channel 4’s Random Acts series), the self-financed More Time, and the NFTS x Disney Plus UK-funded Gently, which had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2023. Morosky currently has feature films in development with the BBC, Berlanti Productions and Luti Media, alongside a television pilot produced by Home Team. His latest book, Black Women Always (published by Harper Collins) was released in March this year.
Jimmy Shaw
Jimmy Shaw is an American actor living in Europe and his flowers are long overdue. He is an incredible talented and versatile actor who brings nuance to his roles. He has appeared in TV series like Major Dad and Will and Grace.
Relocating to Spain in 2001, he gained fame in the comedy series La Que Se Avecina and the miniseries El Tiempo Entre Costuras. He starred in El Ministerio del Tiempo, El Hombre de las Mil Caras and From Zero To I Love You. Shaw also received acclaim for his solo performance in Dream Man, balancing his career between Madrid, the UK and Los Angeles.
Lorna Gayle, aka Sutara Ji
Lorna Gayle is a Jamaican-Brixtonian actor and musician. This year, she won an Offie Award for her one autobiographical one woman show The Legends of Them. The play deals with themes of spirituality, hope, fame, addiction, sexual and physical assault while on the quest of finding unconditional love. There are plans to bring this play to the screen.
Neelu Bhuman
Neelu Bhuman is an Indian auteur filmmaker. Their films explore socio-political themes on race, gender, sexuality, culture, class, and a good dose of romance.
Currently in development is documentary CHIRAKU (Wing), about a young Muslim trans man, Adam, who dreams of becoming a commercial pilot. After escaping pernicious family persecution, he is armed with a Kerala government scholarship, a growing fanbase, and media presence.
Shiloh Coke
Shiloh Coke is a Jamaican/Grenadian actor, writer, composer and musician. She's not only ridiculously talented but is a leading force in the industry – a change maker for equality for her fellow contemporaries – and certainly deserves her flowers. The film Bumped, in which she stars, made the official selection for Pan African Film Festival and LGBTQ+ Toronto film festival.
Dionne Edwards
Dionne Edwards is a Nigerian/Jamaican filmmaker and screenwriter whose debut feature Pretty Red Dress is not only a brilliant piece of writing but superbly cast. British cinema doesn’t often address black gender and sexuality within the complexities black British culture and identity.
Siri Rodnes
Siri Rodnes is a Scottish writer/director whose work is beautifully intricate, heartbreaking and equally heartwarming. They have just completed their first feature Follow Me, a psychological thriller starring Connie Nielsen and Stef Dawson.
Other feature projects in the works include Nine Lives, based on the sci-fi short story by Ursula K Le Guin. Their short films, including the BAFTA Scotland and Berlinale Crystal Bear-nominated Take Your Partners, have screened internationally at Berlin, TIFF, Seattle, Cork, Edinburgh and BFI London festivals.
Shiori Ito
Shiori Ito is a Japanese journalist and documentary filmmaker. Ito is an important voice of our time – lifting the lid on the problematic judicial system in Japan around sexual violence. Ito was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine for her contribution to Japan’s Me Too movement.
Her documentary Black Box Diaries documents her own sexual assault and the investigation in Japan.
Bilal Hasna
Bilal Hasna is a Palestinian-Pakistani British actor and playwright. He's a fast rising star and there's no surprise there, as even when cast in a supporting role, he manages to consistently steal the show. His credits include Layla, Dead Hot and Extraordinary.
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T'Nia Miller is RadioTimes.com Pride Month Guest Editor.
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