Leyna Bloom.

Leyna Bloom is smiling — just take a look for yourself at her Instagram, there’s a wide grin, in every couple of photos, with teeth. But, what does Bloom have to smile about at only twenty-five years old? Her many talents, of course. This year she made her debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the oracle of the film industry.

At the two week long film festival there’s a category called Un Certain Regard, which simply translates to ‘from another angle’, which perfectly sums up Bloom. Her angle is that she’s naturally multifaceted, but also because her father’s advice has always been, “Just know that you’re black, you’re trans, and you’re poor. You’ll need to fight and work harder than others.” A trained dancer, model, actress and activist, to this day — there’s no ‘turning’ in Bloom’s career. She plays the part of Wye in Danielle Lessovitz’s debut