ADEKEYE ADEBAJO: The Woman King: a compelling tale of black sisterhood
Film director Gina Prince-Bythewood was determined to bring a classic of African female heroism to a global audience
16 October 2022 - 18:34
The $50m action epic The Woman King, directed by African American Gina Prince-Bythewood and filmed in Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal — recounts the tale of the all-women regiment of Agojie warriors from the Dahomey kingdom in 1823.
The film has taken in $65m in its first three weeks of release, with black moviegoers accounting for 59% of the audience. It is expected eventually to gross more the $100m. The Woman King has inevitably elicited comparisons with Marvel’s $1bn-grossing largely black cast, Afro-futuristic Black Panther. That film’s Dora Milaje female warriors were modelled on Dahomey’s Agojie...
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