FKA Twigs is set to play the legendary Josephine Baker in a new biopic

FKA Twigs is set to star as American-French entertainer Josephine Baker in a new biopic.

The 38-year-old singer will feature as the dancer, singer and actress in a movie from French filmmaker Maimouna Doucouré about Baker's trailblazing life.

Twigs said in a statement: "I cannot wait to embody Josephine Baker, bringing her fight, her love, her losses, her talent and her heroism to the big screen.

"She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, groundbreaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today."

The biopic has been developed with the cooperation of Baker's surviving sons, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker, both members of the Rainbow Tribe - the multi-ethnic family of 12 children Baker raised at her château in southwest France from the 1950s onwards.

It is the first major film to have the blessing of Baker's estate.

Baker, born Freda Josephine McDonald in St Louis in 1906, became one of the defining figures of the Jazz era after arriving in Paris in 1925 – also becoming the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture in 1927's silent flick Siren of the Tropics.