Black Girl Nerds

456: From Standing Ovations to Side-Eyes: BGN Breaks Down TIFF 2025

BGN breaks down the films screened at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, which celebrated its 50th year.  Jamie and Chalice cover the majority of the films they screened at the festival from the good to ones that gave us some major side-eye. Hosts: Jamie Broadnax and Chalice Williams Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

455: Director Zamo Mkhwanazi of 'Laundry'

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome filmmaker Zamo Mkhwanazi. Making her feature debut, her movie Laundry will premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival under the Discovery selection. Filmmaker Zamo Mkhwanazi’s quietly powerful debut Laundry crafts an intimate portrait of a Black family navigating the uneasy privileges and hidden costs of exemption within the violently unequal system of apartheid South Africa. The film is set in 1968, the same year that negative international opinion against apartheid fomented during the Summer Olympics but 26 years before the end of the institution. Host: Jamie Broadnax Edited by: Jamie Broadnax Music by: Sammus For more information on when and where to screen Laundry go here. The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept 4-14th.

454: Author and DIY Creator Amina Mucciolo

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we chat with Amina Mucciolo, the founder of Cloudland and Studio Mucci. She's also the author of the book "A Rainbow In Your Cloud". Amina is a self-described “unicorn, creative visionary, digital influencer” and the woman behind the decor company, Studio Mucci.  Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

453: Actor/Writer/Director Nnamdi Asomugha

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we chat with actor, writer and director Nnamdi Asomugha about his new film The Knife. Construction worker Chris (Nnamdi Asomugha) is prepared to do whatever he can to build a solid life for his family, yet his plans are thrown into disarray after a mysterious woman appears in their new home late one night. By the time police arrive, the intruder is lying on the kitchen floor unconscious, a knife in her hand, and it falls to steadfast Detective Carlsen (Melissa Leo) to uncover the truth about what happened. Under questioning, Chris, his wife Alex (Aja Naomi King) and their young daughters Ryley (Aiden Price) and Kendra (Amari Price) close ranks, hoping to safeguard one another’s secrets—but the choices they make lead to consequences graver than they could ever imagine. The Knife opens in theaters August 15th. Host: Jamie Edited by: Jamie Broadnax Music by: Sammus Photo credit: Alex Reside

452: 'Alien: Earth' Series Creator Noah Hawley and Alex Lawther

On this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast we chat with 'Alien: Earth' Series Creator Noah Hawley and Alex Lawther. Alien: Earth is FX's upcoming sci-fi horror series created by Noah Hawley, expanding the iconic Alien franchise with a grounded, serialized story set on Earth for the first time. Taking place in the year 2120—30 years before Ripley’s story begins—the series explores a near-future where Earth is dominated by rival biotech corporations like Weyland-Yutani and Prodigy. When a deep-space research vessel crash-lands on Earth carrying something inhuman, chaos unfolds.  Host: Jamie Edited by: Jamie Broadnax 'Alien: Earth' premieres Aug 12th on FX