Noni Salma

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Noni Salma is a Nigerian transgender film-maker and screenwriter whose growing up experiences in Lagos, Nigeria has inspired her storytelling. [1] Her works are largely Women and Queer led dramas and comedies. She centers them in her writing in ways that are fresh, inspiring and kicking. Her slice-of-life feature drama screenplay, Raison D'etre is a ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship 2021 Finalist and her comedy pilot, Badass is a ScreenCraft Comedy Competition 2021 semifinalist and on the GLAAD list 2022. [2] [3]

Contents

She's also a Stowe Story Labs Fellowships finalist. [4] Noni Salma currently lives in New York. [5] [6]

Early life

Noni Salma
EducationUniversit
Alma materUniversity of Lagos
Occupation(s)film maker, screen writer

Salma earned a bachelor's degree in arts from the University of Lagos, where she majored in theater arts. [7] She went on to study filmmaking at the New York Film Academy in New York, where she majored in directing and received a diploma. [8] [5]

In 2019, Salma said she wished she had transitioned at 19 and hadn’t spent most of her earlier years pretending to be someone she wasn’t. [9]

Career

Her directed short thriller Alibi won Best Crime Mystery at the Manhattan Film Festival in 2016. [10] [11] [12] Salma received the Treasure Coast International Film Festival's '1st Place Student Film Competition' Award for her NYFA PhD thesis; 'Morning after Midnight'. [13] She produced and directed the riveting short documentary 'Veil Of Silence' also known as 'Curtain of Silence', which premiered in March 2014 at the BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival in London, United Kingdom; Veil Of Silence has also screened at the United Nations, Egale Canada, and the German Foreign Office, among other places. [14] Following that, Veil Of Silence screened at a number of film festivals, including the Queer Screen Film Festival, CineHomo Film Festival, Valladoid, Spain in April 2015, where it won second place for Best Short Documentary, as praised by the audience. Noni Salma made the nomination list for 'The Future Awards Africa Prize for Screen Producer' in 2018 among. [15]

Works

Veil of Silence [16] - 2014

Hell or High Water [17] - 2016

We Don't Live Here Anymore [18] - 2018

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Nigerian Trans Filmmaker Noni Salma Will Lead Urashi Press, Abibiman's LGBTQ+ Imprint". Brittle Paper. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  2. ↑ ScreenCraft (2021-06-02). "2021 ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship Finalists". ScreenCraft. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  3. ↑ GLAAD (2022-04-22). "Meet the seven trans writers on the 2022 GLAAD List | GLAAD" . Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  4. ↑ "Nigerian transgender regrets not changing his sex when he was younger". Pulse Nigeria. 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  5. 1 2 Daniel, Jo (2016-08-05). "Noni Salma: 'I Was Scared Of Living In Nigeria As A Woman In A Mans Body'". Information Nigeria. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  6. ↑ Choms, Harry (2021-06-23). "Meet Babatunde, The Nigerian Man Who Had Surgery To Transform Himself Into A Woman". Sleek Gist. Archived from the original on 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  7. ↑ "Hmmm! Another Nigerian Transgender on the Rise, Meet Noni Salma Lawal (PHOTOS)". Gistmania. 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  8. ↑ "Out, Proud and African: Noni Salma". The Rustin Times. 2019-06-17. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  9. ↑ ""I Wish I Transitioned When I Was 19" - Nigerian Transgender Noni Salma (Habeeb Lawal)". YabaLeftOnline. 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  10. ↑ "Habeeb Lawal's 'Alibi' wins big at Manhattan Film Festival". Pure Entertainment. 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  11. ↑ "#NigeriasNewTribe: Davido, Ahmed Musa, Adesua Etomi, Chinwe Egwin, Samson Itodo, others make The Future Awards Africa 2018 nominees list » YNaija". YNaija. 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  12. ↑ "Two Poems | Noni Salma". Isele Magazine. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  13. ↑ "Hmmm! Another Nigerian Transgender on the Rise, Meet Noni Salma Lawal (PHOTOS)". Gistmania. 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  14. ↑ "Veil of Silence (2014)". www.cinematerial.com. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  15. ↑ "Burna Boy, Adesua Etomi, Maraji others make 2018 Future Awards list | Premium Times Nigeria". 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  16. ↑ Kowalska, Monika (2025-06-20). "The Heroines of My Life: Interview with Noni Salma". The Heroines of My Life. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  17. ↑ Kowalska, Monika (2025-06-20). "The Heroines of My Life: Interview with Noni Salma". The Heroines of My Life. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  18. ↑ Kowalska, Monika (2025-06-20). "The Heroines of My Life: Interview with Noni Salma". The Heroines of My Life. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
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