The BBC recently announced its plans for its 25th anniversary projects, which will include a Grace Jones documentary titled ”Grace Jones: The Musical of My Life.” BBC Films is backing the entire project and commissioned Sophie Fiennes, the sister of famed British actor Ray Fiennes, to direct the film. It has also been reported that the BFI Film Fund and the Irish Film Board will fund the project.
Billboard reported, “James Wilson and Katie Holly are co-producing the film, the first-ever on Jones. It has been described as ‘a cinematic journey into the private and public worlds of Grace Jones, mixing intimate personal footage with unique staged musical sequences.’”
A former model who became a new wave sensation in the 1980s with hits such as “Pull Up to the Bumper,” “Slave to the Rhythm” and “Private Life,” Jones has long been seen as a musical and fashion influence on scores of female singers. Jones stopped recording with 1989’s “Bulletproof Heart,” returning in 2008 with “Hurricane.” She contributed the track “Original Beast” to the “Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” soundtrack last year.
The prolifically strange and experimental model and musician that is Jones deserves this honor. Dominating popular music and film in the 1980s after balancing a high fashion modeling career, she appeared in such mainstream films as “Conan the Destroyer” and the James Bond blockbuster “A View to a Kill,” and continues to perform and act.