Reason one: she’s going to be Jury President of the Berlinale 2024.

One hardly needs a reason to love Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o. She is stunning, both inside and out, intelligent and talented. Plus she dabbles in several disciplines, which makes her a renaissance kind of woman. All in all, it seems Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Phenomenal Woman’ was written about the Mexican-born, Kenyan American star.

So here are four reasons, to love her even more.

She’ll be President of the International Jury of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival.

The festival will run from February 15-25 and has already begun to announce great titles in their Forum and Panorama sections.

Berlinale directors Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said about her: “Lupita Nyong'o embodies what we like in cinema: versatility in embracing different projects, addressing different audiences, and consistency to one idea that is quite recognisable in her characters, as diverse as they may look. We are happy and proud she has accepted our invitation to be the jury president of the 74th Berlinale.”

Nyong’o graciously replied, “I am deeply honored to serve as the President of the International Jury of the Berlin International Film Festival. I look forward to celebrating and recognising the outstanding work of filmmakers from around the world.”

Her book ‘Sulwe’ gives little girls just the right amount of self esteem needed to succeed in this big, bad world.

The movie star, slash producer-director-writer and Broadway actor as well, has nearly eleven million followers on Instagram. On the platform, she shares her latest news, from the Oscar submission she boarded as Executive Producer (more on that later), to her being cast in this Hollywood production or that indie film.

One of the news she shared, back in 2019 was the release of the children’s book she wrote, illustrated by Vashti Harrison, titled Sulwe. The story of Sulwe, is about a little girl whose skin is darker than anyone around her. Because of it, Sulwe is teased at school, and tries all kinds of things to make her skin lighter. But one night she receives a visit from a star, who tells her how the world learned to appreciate the value and beauty of Night and how Night and Day used to be sisters. Through this encounter Sulwe learns to love herself and to celebrate her gloriously black skin.

If it sounds a bit autobiographical, it is, and is based on Ngong'o's own life growing up as a dark-skinned girl.

The Hollywood actress came on board of this year’s Sudanese Oscar entry ‘Goodbye Julia’ as Executive Producer.

Every filmmaker knows that to up the ante of a film submission, during awards season, requires lots of word of mouth recommendations and for voters to view your film. So, it goes without saying that someone like Oscar winner Nyong’o coming on board of your film, is a dream come true for a filmmaker.

That’s what happened with Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia, this year’s Oscar submission by the Sudan. Goodbye Julia is Kordofani's debut feature film and the first film from Sudan ever to be presented in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. With Nyong’o as EP it stands a great chance of being nominated, or at the very least shortlisted for the upcoming Academy Awards. Inshallah.

Goodbye Julia follows the story of Mona, a northern Sudanese retired singer living within a tense marriage, who is wracked by guilt after covering up a murder she caused. Mona then finds the widow, and young child, of the man who was killed and befriends her, at first offering her a job, then growing closer to her — all the while the impending separation of Northern and Southern Sudan looms in the not-so-far distance. The film is a must watch and it is simply wonderful to see Nyong’o celebrating it around the world.

Of course, she’s a Superstar with a capital “S” and her cinematic choices, as well as her fashion ones, continue to amaze.

Apart from being an obvious fashionista, I mean just look at her jacket in the header image, which was the photo supplied by the Berlinale to announce her upcoming “jury duty” — Nyong’o is also a classically trained actress.

The jacket/dress, for those who wish to know, is by Mach & Mach, and the star donned the look for the premiere of Beyonce’s Renaissance concert film in November of this year. So you see, how that renaissance woman comment I made at the beginning seems to fit right in with Nyong’o — all the way.

After winning her Oscar for best supporting actress in 2014 for her role in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, Nyong’o starred in Us, by Jordan Peele, where she played Adelaide Thomas, as well as dopplegänger-slash-Tethered clone Red. She also starred in 2018 blockbuster Black Panther and in 2022, in the follow up Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her Insta profile photo features her co-star in the first installment of the Marvel series, the late actor Chadwick Boseman.

The daughter of Kenyan parents, Nyong’o was born in Mexico City and grew up in Kenya. She then studied Film and Theatre Studies at Hampshire College (USA) and initially worked on various film productions in the USA. Back in Kenya, Nyong’o produced her first film In My Genes in 2009, which she also directed and wrote. Nyong’o also studied at the prestigious Yale School of Drama and boasts a Screen Actors Guild Award, the Critics' Choice Award, the Independent Spirit Award and the NAACP Image Award for her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave.

Nyong'o is also currently preparing a podcast focussing on non-fictional storytelling from the African diaspora and she is developing a series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. Americanah is a 2013 novel by the Nigerian author, which won the 2013 U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. It tells the story of a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who immigrates to the United States to attend university.

Header image courtesy of the Berlinale, used with permission.