Nora's Hair Salon is a 2004 independent

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

 comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

-drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, written by Chanel Capra

Chanel Capra

Chanel Capra is an American screenwriter, actor and film producer.Capra interned at The Shooting Gallery, a production company, before branching out into screenwriting and independent production....

 and Jean-Claude La Marre, and directed

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by Jerry LaMothe. This film stars Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...

, Tamala Jones

Tamala Jones

Tamala R. Jones is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the movies Booty Call, The Wood, Kingdom Come, The Brothers, and Two Can Play That Game...

, and Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

.

Plot

Nora Harper (Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Lewis

Jenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...

) is an African-American businesswoman who owns a hair salon in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. She keeps watch over her employees, friends, relatives, and regular customers. Lilleana (Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

) is a new employee from the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

, and she is also in an abusive relationship with her wants-more-than friend, Bennie (Bobby Brown

Bobby Brown

Robert Barisford "Bobby" Brown is an American R&B singer-songwriter, occasional rapper, and dancer. After success in pop group New Edition, Brown began his solo career in 1987 and had a string of Top 10 Billboard hits, culminating in a Grammy Award. He was a pioneer of New Jack Swing music, a...

). Chloe (Tamala Jones

Tamala Jones

Tamala R. Jones is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the movies Booty Call, The Wood, Kingdom Come, The Brothers, and Two Can Play That Game...

) is a hair stylist who has aspirations of a career in show business. Ming (Lucille Soong

Lucille Soong

Lucille Soong is a Chinese American film and television actress. She has guest starred on several present-day television series which include a recurring role on the ABC primetime soap Desperate Housewives as Gabrielle Solis' former maid, Yao Lin...

) does manicures and has problems with her temper, and loves offering her opinions. Devin (Jean-Claude LaMarre) is a bisexual man who is uncertain about his relationship with Delicious (Donn Swaby

Donn Swaby

Donn Swaby is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Chad Harris-Crane on the television soap opera Passions. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens. Swaby received a college degree from Boston University. He played the role of Chad on Passions from the...

). Later in the film, Nora has a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

. Her friends from the salon hope for her recovery but she dies shortly before the end of the film. In the end the salon remains open, selling Nora's hairstyling products.

Cast

• Jenifer Lewis
  Jenifer Lewis
  Jenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...
  
   — Nora
• Tamala Jones
  Tamala Jones
  Tamala R. Jones is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the movies Booty Call, The Wood, Kingdom Come, The Brothers, and Two Can Play That Game...
  
   — Chloe
• Tatyana Ali
  Tatyana Ali
  Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...
  
   — Lilleana
• Bobby Brown
  Bobby Brown
  Robert Barisford "Bobby" Brown is an American R&B singer-songwriter, occasional rapper, and dancer. After success in pop group New Edition, Brown began his solo career in 1987 and had a string of Top 10 Billboard hits, culminating in a Grammy Award. He was a pioneer of New Jack Swing music, a...
  
   — Benny
• Jean-Claude La Marre — Devin
• Lucille Soong
  Lucille Soong
  Lucille Soong is a Chinese American film and television actress. She has guest starred on several present-day television series which include a recurring role on the ABC primetime soap Desperate Housewives as Gabrielle Solis' former maid, Yao Lin...
  
   — Ming
• Christine Carlo — Xenobia
• Donn Swaby
  Donn Swaby
  Donn Swaby is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Chad Harris-Crane on the television soap opera Passions. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens. Swaby received a college degree from Boston University. He played the role of Chad on Passions from the...
  
   — Delicious,
• Lil' Kim
  Lil' Kim
  Kimberly Denise Jones , better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and actress who was a member of the group Junior M.A.F.I.A.....
  
   — Herself
• Kristian Bernard
• Brandi Burnside
• Kianya Haynes
• Johan Jean
• Claudia Jordan
  Claudia Jordan
  Claudia Jordan is an American television and radio personality. She is primarily known for appearing as a model on the U.S. version of Deal or No Deal, and for competing on Season 2 of the Celebrity Apprentice.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Jerry LaMothe
• Cheyenne Maxey — Girl Scout
• Libby Millhouse
• Whitney Houston
  Whitney Houston
  Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
  
   — herself
• Jonathan McDaniel
  Lil' J
  Jonathan McDaniel , known as Lil' J, is an American actor and rapper. He is best known for his role as Devon Carter on the hit Disney Channel show That's So Raven. He has also appeared in the direct-to-video release Nora's Hair Salon...
  
   — Leronne

Sequel

A Direct-to-video

Direct-to-video

Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 sequel putting Lilleana as the main character was released entitled Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above

Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above

Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above is a 2008 comedy-drama film written by Chanel Capra and Jill Maxcy, who also directed. The film stars Tatyana Ali, Stacey Dash, and Bobby Brown, and is the sequel to 2004's Nora's Hair Salon.-Cast:...

, starring Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

, Stacy Dash, Donn Swaby

Donn Swaby

Donn Swaby is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Chad Harris-Crane on the television soap opera Passions. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens. Swaby received a college degree from Boston University. He played the role of Chad on Passions from the...

, Bobby Brown

Bobby Brown

Robert Barisford "Bobby" Brown is an American R&B singer-songwriter, occasional rapper, and dancer. After success in pop group New Edition, Brown began his solo career in 1987 and had a string of Top 10 Billboard hits, culminating in a Grammy Award. He was a pioneer of New Jack Swing music, a...

 and Mekhi Phifer

Mekhi Phifer

Mekhi Thira Phifer is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile...

.

A second sequel was released in 2011 entitled Nora's Hair Salon 3: The Cutting Edge. However, none of the original cast stars in it.