Courtesy of A24(LOS ANGELES) — A24 has released the first trailer for Zola, a film based on a viral Twitter thread posted in October 2015 by Detroit-based stripper A’ziah “Zola” King.

Starring Taylour Paige and Riley Keough, the film follows Paige as Zola, a Detroit waitress, who becomes besties with a customer that takes her on a wild road trip to Florida full of partying, stripping, a nameless pimp, and even local gangsters.

Directed and co-written by Janicza Bravo, the film also stars Nicholas Braun, Ari’el Stachel, and Colman Domingo.

Zola made its worldwide premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020 to rave reviews. However, due the pandemic, the release was pushed back. 

For his part, Colman joked to ABC Audio about the film, “It’s a story about friendship. It was these two young girls who go…in search of, you know, some ‘opportunities’ in the south and things go wrong.” 

The Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star adds, “And I play a Nigerian pimp basically. So I’m swinging the other way from playing, you know, great dads and heroes and things to a down and dirty pimp.”

The acclaimed actor and avowed “feminist” said it was a “challenge” for him to try to find out how people like his character tick.

Zola is now set to hit theaters this summer.

By Candice Williams and Stephen Iervolino
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