Djaka Souaré is an actress & filmmaker. Djaka currently stars in the festival darling award-winning horror/comedy "Cut Me If You Can" directed by Nicolas Polixene & Sylvain Loubet (Clermont-Ferrand, SCAD, Woodstock, Moscow FF). She acted in & produced Zainab Jah & Timothy Naylor's "Reunion", Oscar-qualified short film for 2025, EP'ed by Danaï Gurira and associate produced by Lupita Nyong'o. Other credits include the HULU special "Black Stories Present: Your Attention Please", directed by TriBeCa 2019 award winner Phillip Youmans. Djaka's short film as a writer-director, "Jazz in Wakanda", was an Official selection at Urban World, Nitehawk Shorts, NY African FF, etc, sold to COMCAST and is streaming on TUBI. In 2023, she was selected for the CANEX/AFRIFF program "Script to Screen" to develop her first feature, and was one of the 25 screenwriters to win the pitching competition. Of Guinean & French descent, Djaka is the face of rebel soldier Halima Zambardi in the video game "Call of Duty", and speaks English, French & Spanish fluently. She is part of FreeTheWork. |
"CUT ME IF YOU CAN"
Clermont-Ferrand FF/Moscow International FF 2024
Woodstock/SCAD 2023
Directed by NICOLAS POLIXENE & SYLVAIN LOUBET Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ Stuck in the loop of a horror B-movie, a hyper-sexualized black female character decides to reject her fate and rebel against the script. Along with her boyfriend, token black guy who always dies first, they throw the entire movie off course. They try to outwit the serial killer and escape in order to break free... but the film has other plans... Brown Sugar Days Jury Prize Paris in the Dark Jury Prize SF Another Hole in the Head Staff Favorite Short Film |
"JAZZ IN WAKANDA"
Streaming on TUBI/COMCAST
Directed by & starring DJAKA SOUARÉ An otherwise uneventful day for Julie takes a more serious turn when her daughter, Jazz, starts to ask profound questions about slavery, and what she's learned at school. Starring Zainab Jah, Sydney Morton, Jazz Hardrict |
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"YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: IMAGINE A MOON COLONY"
Streaming on Hulu
Directed by TriBeca Award Winner PHILIP YOUMANS Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ 1970s. Los Angeles. Baldwin Hills. A son asks his parents to imagine the year 2020... |
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"CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD" Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ Halima Zambardi, head of the Somali & Italian Rebel Army |
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"A SMALLER BIG BANG"
Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ: BEST ACTRESS nomination at the LA ACTION Film Festival Directed by Jeff Perreca When divorce won't do for a miserable married couple, they each hire contract killers to take the other out, but their plans go horribly awry when the killers show up on the same night. 2023 LA Lift Off Film Festival 2023 Stage 32 Short Film Contest Finalist 2022 LA Shorts International Film Festival 2022 LA Action Film Festival 2022 LA Independent Filmmakers Showcase 2022 BMC Film Fest Best Direction & Best Cinematography Winner |
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"FOR LIFE"
Directed by DJAKA SOUARÉ When a new friend shows up, two best-friends-forever are forced to question how long 'forever' really lasts. 2020 Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2020 Vegas Movie Awards - Best Narrative Short 2020 International Independent Film Awards - Best Short 2020 Focus International Film Festival 2020 Detroit Shetown Film festival 2020 Hollywood Verge Film Awards |
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"WORDS"
Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ & NICHOLAS PINNOCK A New York Love story about two lovers whose language barriers ultimately creates a wall. Directed by Amhalise Morgan 2019 Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival 2020 New York Cinematography Award (NYCA) Finalist 2020 Bridges International Film Festival (Greece) 2021 Kalakari Film Festival (India) 2022 Rio de Janeiro World Film Festival |
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"NAIROBI" Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ Upon immigrating to New York, a West-African mother finds comfort in the dresses her daughter makes for her. Produced by SOLANGE KNOWLES Directed by TriBeca Award Winner Phillip Youmans 2020 Pyeongchang International Peace Film Festival 2021 New Orleans Film Society |
"AN AFTERNOON IN MONTE CARLO"
Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ Marlon Rivers, a young African-American finance wunderkind specialized in the 'Monte Carlo' system, meets Margot Marshall, a mystery LA woman who has just landed in New York that fateful day. Directed by Vaintino 2018 Lucky Strike Film Festival 2018 Rome Independent Prisma Awards 2018 Mediterranean Film Festival 2018 Motion Pictures International Film Festival 2018 CKF International Film Festival |
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"Z-BORN" Directed by Shaan Couture Starring DJAKA SOUARÉ When a futuristic cop finds out she's been selected to escape this dying earth and leave for a new and thriving planet, she must decide if she wants to leave and save herself or stay and save her world. 2018 Women Week end Film Challenge 2019 St Francis College Women's Film Festival |
"ROMEO N JULIET"
STARRING Djaka Souaré Classical Theater of Harlem - Summerstage, NYC Directed by Justin Emeka @Marcus Garvey Park "Sword fights become break dancing battles, Juliet's balcony is a fire escape, the apothecary is a drug dealer on the corner, and the young men killing one another in their families' names are engaged in class wars (...) This adaptation works." THE NEW YORKER 'Lakai Worrell's choreography is first rate. Providing a supernatural feel, lit up 'ancestors' dance in doorways. Under his direction, the ensemble keeps the poetry forefront.'' HUFFINGTON POST |