ONE TO WATCH
Elite warriors
The Woman King / In cinemas from Tuesday 4 October
It was 2015 when film producer Maria Bello first pitched her idea for a movie about the Agojie and Dahomey to Academy Award winner Viola Davis. Considering this was done in a Los Angeles ballroom, where Bello was presenting Davis with an honour at the Women Making History Awards, it was quite some occasion. As Bello laid out a story of female warriors and a wealthy west African kingdom, the audience cheered.
Now, in late 2022, The Woman King is one of the autumn’s most anticipated blockbusters. Set in the 19th century, it stars Davis as General Nanisca, a soldier overseeing the training of a new generation of warriors.
If this sounds fantastical, it’s worth emphasising the film draws on the historical record. The Kingdomin the region, a ferocious all-female regiment - and, incidentally, an inspiration for the Dora Milaje in Marvel’s . The Europeans who encountered them dubbed the women “Amazons” after the warriors of Greek mythology.
