WHAT: Starz, in an acquisition from Monterey Media, will exclusively debut the U.S. television premiere of the award-winning film, Half of a Yellow Sun, starring Emmy, Academy Award nominee and five-time Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, on Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT on STARZ IN BLACK.
The film will also be available on the network’s associated STARZ ON DEMAND and STARZ PLAY online services.
Based on the award-winning novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun is a romantic drama set in the backdrop of 1960s Nigeria during the country’s turbulent civil war. The film centers around the diverging destinies of two sisters, Olanna (played by Thandie Newton) and Kainene (played by Anika Noni Rose) who are glamorous twins from a wealthy Nigerian family. Upon returning to a privileged city life in newly independent 1960s Nigeria after their expensive English education, the two women make very different choices. Olanna shocks her family by going to live with her lover, the “revolutionary professor” Odenigbo (portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his devoted houseboy Ugwu (played by John Boyega) in the dusty university town of Nsukka; Kainene turns out to be a fiercely successful businesswoman when she takes over the family interests, and surprises even herself when she falls in love with Richard (portrayed by Joseph Mawle), an English writer. Preoccupied by their romantic entanglements, and a betrayal between the sisters, the events of their life seem to loom larger than politics. However, they become caught up in the events of the Nigerian civil war, in which the lgbo people fought an impassioned struggle to establish Biafra as an independent republic, ending in chilling violence which shocked the entire world. Half of a Yellow Sun takes the sisters and their lovers on a journey through the war which is powerful, intensely emotional and, as the response of readers around the world has shown, it is a story which can touch everyone’s heart.
WHO: Thandie Newton (For Colored Girls, The Pursuit of Happiness) who plays Olanna and Anika Noni Rose (For Colored Girls, Dreamgirls, The Princess and the Frog) who portrays Kainene, star alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, the STARZ Original Miniseries “Dancing on the Edge”) as Odenigbo, a revolutionary professor. The international cast also includes Joseph Mawle (Richard), John Boyega (Ugwu) and Onyeka Onwenu (Mama).
WHEN: The U.S. television premiere will debut on Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT on STARZ IN BLACK.
Additional show times and channels are detailed below:
Sunday, September 28th 10:00pm STARZ IN BLACK *NETWORK PREMIERE*
Monday, September 29th 6:20pm STARZ IN BLACK
Saturday, October 11th 10:00pm STARZ CINEMA
Saturday, November 22nd 10:00pm STARZ IN BLACK
