‘The Woman King’ and when movies aren’t history lessons

When our host Brittany Luse first heard of The Woman King – a film about an all-women warrior unit defending the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the years of the Atlantic slave trade – the idea made her nervous. Hollywood’s record with Black historical dramas is pretty checkered. But then she saw it.

In this episode, Brittany breaks down the film’s significance and the task of approaching historical representations in fiction. She sat down with actor Sheila Atim – who plays the warrior Amenza – to talk about the physical trainings, the joys of making a movie with actors from across the diaspora and how Atim has played characters on different sides of the Atlantic slave trade. Then Brittany is joined by Maya Cade, creator and curator of Black Film Archive, and culture critic Shamira Ibrahim. They discuss how to square historical accuracy with a satisfying Hollywood narrative.