This 30-meter-tall bronze statue of the Amazon of Dahomey, a legendary female warrior, was just unveiled above Cotonou.
The film “The Woman King” had its world debut here on Saturday. The Beninese women warriors who fought against French colonial control more than a century ago are portrayed in the Hollywood production.
“It is a pride for all Beninese to have a film that was made especially in the effigy of the Amazons. And not just any movie, it’s a Hollywood movie and it’s a movie that comes from the biggest movie producing country, I named the United States. Frankly it is a great pride for me and it is really a pride to see it before the majority of Beninese. Frankly I’m excited, I’m bubbling,” said Aureliot Lainé, a resident of Cotonou.
Movie critics have given the blockbuster released in the United States a favorable review. When they see the movie’s first shots, some Beninese express the wish that one day their nation will be able to tell these tales with authentic regional flavor.
“To see and hear the danhomey, to see a little bit how it relates us to our roots, to our history. With the statue of the Amazon, with Bio Guéra at the airport (a great warrior who fought against the French colonists), everything brings us back to our roots. From now on it should bring us to produce something like this. We saw it last time with a film that was purely shot in Benin, maybe we’ll dream that we’ll have an Amazon film that comes out of our industry and then it will be the victory of cultural identity,” Fifa Gandonou, a journalist said.
The movie depicts the actual experiences of Dahomey kingdom’s female warriors during the 19th century.
Nanisca, a skilled warrior who instructs the new recruits entrusted with battling a larger rival country and European slave merchants, is portrayed by American actress Viola Davis.
The female combatants in “Black Panther,” a movie that has made $1.3 billion in worldwide box office, were also inspired by the female army of the Dahomey kingdom.
