Noni Salma is a filmmaker who doesn’t ask for permission, she creates with purpose, beauty, and unapologetic urgency. A Nigerian-born, New York-based transgender woman, Noni is part of a generation of storytellers redefining cinema on her own feminist terms. Her work dares to center women, queer people, and those whose lives are too often pushed to the margins. Through film, she offers both resistance and celebration, carving out space not just to be seen, but to be understood, respected, and remembered. Raised in the electric chaos of Lagos, Noni’s earliest impressions of the world came with color, contradiction, and complexity, all of which inform her storytelling today. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Lagos and later honed her directorial voice at the New York Film Academy. Her NYFA thesis film Morning After Midnight earned 1st Place at the Treasure Coast International Film Festival, signaling the arrival of a bold new voice in cinema. That voice became unmistakable with Veil of Silence, her haunting, heartfelt short documentary that premiered at the BFI Flare London LGBTQ+ Film Festival and later screened at the United Nations, Egale Canada, and the German Foreign Office. The film resonated deeply across continents, winning second place for Best Short Documentary at CineHomo Film Festival in Spain, an audience award that speaks to the impact of Noni’s human-centered lens.
Her storytelling isn’t confined to genre. With Alibi, a suspenseful short thriller, she claimed Best Crime Mystery at the Manhattan Film Festival. And her recent screenwriting projects show the same defiant tenderness: Raison D’être, a feature drama, was a finalist for the ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship, and her razor-sharp comedy pilot Badass earned her a spot on The GLAAD List 2022, which honors the most promising LGBTQ-inclusive screenplays yet to be produced. A Stowe Story Labs Fellowship finalist, Noni Salma writes and directs not from theory but from lived experience, from survival, joy, and feminist fire. Noni is a woman building worlds where our stories matter, where silence is shattered, and where laughter, pain, resistance, and love coexist.In the conversation that follows, I had the immense pleasure of speaking with Noni about her journey, her vision, and what it means to create as a trans woman, as an African woman, and as an artist who refuses to compromise.
Monika: Hello Noni! When I first approached you for this interview, you expressed something that really touched me, you shared how most of the interviews you've been offered have come from non-trans journalists who, despite good intentions, often miss the deeper nuances of our experiences. You seemed genuinely relieved and excited that this conversation would be with another trans woman. Has that been a recurring frustration for you, feeling that the media hasn't quite captured the fullness of your journey or your work?
Noni: Thank you for reaching out to do this interview and for your patience despite me being busy. Yes, it felt really refreshing to have a trans journalist reach out. I find that there’s a lack of knowledge on basic trans 101 that many non-trans journalists still perpetuate, and what should be an interview can somewhat lean into a kind of interrogation and stripping of one’s humanity. I’m also tired of people thinking they’ll get brownie points for platforming a trans person. So yes, being in conversation with someone who not just talks the talk but has walked the walk is very refreshing.
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| "I always wanted to make a film that subverts the cis-white male gaze in every form." |
Monika: Your debut documentary, Veil of Silence, a bold and visionary film that amplified the voices of LGBTI Nigerians just before the country’s harsh anti-gay law took effect in early 2014, not only made a powerful statement but also showcased your exceptional artistic vision. Did the success of this film inspire you to pursue filmmaking as your profession?
Noni: Absolutely. It was my first attempt at non-fiction filmmaking, and it revealed to me the spaces we occupy as LGBTQ+ filmmakers and how important our voices are. People want to go to the movies to see themselves, to feel less alone. Making that film helped shape the landscape of how I told stories going forward, even as a writer and actor.
Monika: After your directing debut, you gained notable recognition as a writer, with works like Hell or High Water (2016) and We Don't Live Here Anymore (2018). Did you find writing more fulfilling or engaging than film directing?
Noni: I won’t say writing is more fulfilling than directing, it just costs way less to write than to direct. In order to direct a film, I need a budget of some sort. But writing can just begin by contemplating the blank page on my laptop. Directing is also arduous and takes time, which is why I don’t do it as much. As someone who is a multi-hyphenate (actress, writer, director), I still have to submit to other forms of expression that I thrive in.
Monika: “Raison D’être” and “Badass” felt like a bold departure from your earlier work. Could you share a bit about these projects and what makes them special to you?
Noni: Raison D’être is a feature screenplay that is a portrait of a trans woman and her estranged relationship with her mom. That’s something deeply personal to me, and the fact that we don’t have nearly enough trans narratives in cinema made it one of a kind. I always wanted to make a film that subverts the cis-white male gaze in every form, and this project was birthed on the page with that intention.
Monika: There’s a quiet kind of dream many of us have, to just be seen as women, without having to explain, justify, or educate. Have you ever felt tempted to step back from being a visible trans woman, to just disappear into the crowd?
Noni: There was a moment in my life and transition when that seemed like such a lofty dream, to just disappear and blend in. But I’ve since learned that disappearing is the antithesis of what my dreams are about. I spent too many years hiding and cowering to allow the fantasy of disappearance to be something to aspire to. I’ve always geared toward the road less traveled. I am a woman. I am a Black woman. I am a Black woman of trans experience, and the world is just going to have to live with it.
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| " I’ve always geared toward the road less traveled." |
Monika: The name “Noni” has such a lyrical ring to it. How did you choose it? Does it hold a secret meaning, a personal mythology, or just sound fabulous in a film credit?
Noni: Noni means “ninth” in Latin, and the angel number 9 is associated with completion, spiritual growth, and fulfillment. I also chose the name from Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Beyond the Lights, where the female protagonist, Noni, felt unseen for who she truly was, as opposed to the pop star everyone wanted her to be.
Monika: The journey to being our true selves often comes with a heavy price, losing friends, family, and sometimes even our jobs. What was the hardest part of coming out for you, and how did you navigate it?
Noni: The hardest part was the way my life turned at first. Everything goes quiet, the life you knew, family, some friends. The world starts beating it into your head that you are a failure and a joke. But I had to anchor myself in my own emotional truth: this is who I am, at the core. And because this is who I am, I will thrive. It has taken years of reconstruction and realignment to finally see how it was all worth it. Being yourself will always be worth it.
Monika: Transition reshapes not only our bodies but the way the world orbits around us. Since your transition, have you noticed people treating you differently, whether with more tenderness, more confusion, or just more assumptions?
Noni: Being seen as a spectacle for men was something I had to come to terms with. The idea that whatever nice thing I was going to do for myself and to my body would still be filtered through the male gaze is something I still struggle with, lol.
Monika: We all remember that one magical moment, seeing a trans woman on screen or in real life and whispering to ourselves, “That’s me.” Do you remember your moment? Who was she?
Noni: I’m not proud to say this, but at the time, it was Caitlyn Jenner. Her Diane Sawyer interview revolutionized me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. Obviously, I’m not white and I’m not in my 60s, but the language of transitioning was so basic and so 101 that my baby trans mind just absorbed it and connected with it on a whole other level. Before then, I had seen Laverne Cox on Orange Is the New Black, and maybe that had quietly planted some seeds in my head, but it was Caitlyn’s interview that lit the flame in me.
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| "I had to anchor myself in my own emotional truth." |
Monika: Is living authentically as a transgender woman in Nigeria an act of resistance in itself?
Noni: I live in New York, but absolutely, yes. Being trans is such a foreign concept to the average Nigerian. Even though there are several trans women living in Nigeria, many of them still exist in the shadows. And the few who are visible often have to claim they are cross-dressers or drag queens. I think the idea of being trans is so embroiled in a sense of permanence that it challenges people’s ideas of gender, as opposed to the perceived flexibility of drag and cross-dressing.
Monika: I’ve never been to Africa, but I’ve often heard people from Africa describe being transgender as something “un-African.” Why do you think that idea has taken such a strong hold across the continent? Where does it come from, and what keeps it alive in people’s minds?
Noni: Nigerians only know of trans people through American media, and that skews their perception, making it seem like something foreign and far away. Everything they’ve been taught and have seen gets challenged when they encounter the idea of a trans person, and instead of welcoming it or even gently interrogating it, they become hostile and reject it as a foreign concept. I think they believe this rejection insulates them and keeps their society “clean”, the idea that Nigerians don’t dabble in “such frivolities.” Accepting that Nigerian people can be trans would challenge their own moral ethos.
Monika: You're now based in the U.S. How would you describe the current social climate for transgender women there?
Noni: Very dire. We’ve been here before, though, maybe not as intense, but Trump 1.0 was terrifying for the trans community. I held my breath through those four years, and I think now I just feel helpless and numb. There's a trans-lash (trans backlash) happening, I believe, as a result of the trans renaissance or tipping point we’ve experienced over the last 15 years.
Monika: The pressure to “pass” is exhausting, and even after surgeries, society still puts us under a microscope. How do you deal with these expectations, and do you ever just want to throw them out the window with last season’s jeans?
Noni: I do think passing is about safety, and whatever the girls want to do to feel safe, they should do it. If you gotta put on a face beat to make it safe in and out of the 7-11, do it. But I do me. Maybe it’s the privilege of being somewhat palatable with little to no makeup, but I love the freedom of just being. I love being dolled up, but I also love the freedom of less.
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| "I love the freedom of just being." |
Monika: I remember the time right after my transition, it was pure euphoria. My closet is still full of dresses and shoes that I literally bought by the dozens back then, and I must have tried on hundreds. I felt like I had to make up for all those years that were taken from me. Did you feel the same way?
Noni: I think mine was slow in the sense that I started with female clothes that could dress the kind of body I had then. I hid myself to not be attractive because I felt that would make me invisible and under less scrutiny. It took me time to feel my body had evolved enough to explore fashion, hair, and makeup in that way. But I also think therapy and transitioning of the mind took center stage first. Like the great philosopher Beyoncé said, it’s the soul that needs surgery.
Monika: Let’s talk style, what’s your fashion vibe? Do you go with trends, build your own universe, or have a go-to outfit that always makes you feel like the queen you are?
Noni: I don’t necessarily study the trends, but I have a keen eye for what calls my name. I know my body, and I can tell when a fashion item would complement me. It’s more about what feels at home in Noni’s body than what’s on trend for me.
Monika: By the way, do you like being complimented on your looks? Do you find it easy to accept compliments, or do you struggle with believing them?
Noni: I struggle with believing them sometimes, but I need to hear them. Does that make sense? My love language is words of affirmation, so keep the compliments coming, even if I think I look like a piece of shit, lol.
Monika: How has love shaped your life and your journey as a transgender woman? Could you share what role love plays in your personal growth and happiness?
Noni: Self-love is very important for me as a trans woman, especially in a world that says we shouldn’t exist. And love sometimes also means having boundaries, not accepting breadcrumbs or the bare minimum. Believing that you are worthy and only accepting what you deserve. I find that the more I love and magnify myself, the better people treat me.
Monika: Many trans women are writing their memoirs these days. Have you ever thought about writing your own book, and if so, what would its central message be?
Noni: Oh, you know it’s coming, maybe in the next two to three years. It’ll be about my journey as a trans woman and an immigrant, and how both journeys intersect.
Monika: And finally, Noni, what’s next? What dreams or projects are you chasing now?
Noni: Acting. Being the actress I’ve always wanted to be, the leading lady of the screens. I’m done playing it safe and small.
Monika: Noni, thank you so much for sharing your journey and insights.
Noni: Thank you, Monika, for this wonderful platform and insightful questions. I’m deeply honored.
All the photos: courtesy of Noni Salma. Photography by Alex Dani.
© 2025 - Monika Kowalska
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