Sqúad is a comedy series created by filmmaker Helena Morgane that is described as a ‘melanated’ comedy. It tells the story of a group of women from the African diaspora who are living together in Rio de Janeiro. In order to make the series, the team behind Sqúad launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money. The Daily Vox team rounds up.
Sqúad tells the story of a group of Black women living together. The story starts when the two oldest roommates drunkenly post an advertisement looking for black roommates. From there the story develops with the characters trying to navigate living together and experiencing Brazilian culture.
The characters include Yola who is a West African businesswoman struggling with her sexuality. She also wants to return to her home country. There’s Diane who talks constantly about ‘Africa’ but has never been there. Taslim is an Afro-European woman with a Muslim father and Christian Mother, who is trying to find her true calling. There’s also Rosie who identifies as Afro-Latina who wants to reconnect with her Brazilian roots. The last member of the cast is Aaliyah who doesn’t live with the others but is often at the house. She is grappling with her black identity and blackness.
The creators says they decided to crowdfund their project because they believe in the strength of their concept and hope this project will open the door for other forms of funding. The crowdfunding initiative, which launched on Tuesday has raised 13% of its aim of $15 000. If you want to help fund the project or just find out more, check out their crowdfunding page
