Last year, it was announced that Lupita Nyong’o is playing alongside Viola Davis in the film The Woman King, a film detailing the lives of the “Dahomey Amazons,” the female military of the 18th century African nation Dahomey. She’s also bringing the lives of the Dahomey Amazons to life in another way with the UK’s Channel 4.

Nyong’o will star as the presenter of documentary Warrior Women with Lupita Nyong’o, where she will travel to Benin to learn more about the Amazons, or as they’re called by their proper name, the Agojie.

According to Deadline, the documentary is produced by SandStone Global Productions, which has engaged in projects about Africa before, such as The Nile: Egypt’s Great River and Egypt’s Greatest Treasures.

“Lupita Nyong’o’s investigation into the real story of the all-female army is thrilling, haunting and emotional,” said Shaminder Nahal, Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor, Arts & Topical Specialist Factual according to Deadline. “It’s amazing the true story of these kick-ass female fighters isn’t more widely known–and in telling it, the film challenges dominant narratives about race, women and power. With some surprises along the way.”

SandStone Global’s Creative Director Bettany Hughes also said that the project “was a unique opportunity to combine Lupita Nyong’o’s passion and forensic interest in the power and origin of stories with grassroots research in Benin.”

“The Agojie women were recruited by their kings across three centuries and fought in huge numbers in highly-trained battalions. Women have frequently been written out of history, and powerful women fetishized–this is a case in point. Lupita Nyong’o asks searing questions about power play in history and who tells whose story.”

As we know, this isn’t the first time Nyong’o has been involved in telling the stories of powerful female warriors. Nyong’o joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe when she portrayed Nakia, one of Wakanda’s war dogs, in Black Panther. In the film, her character worked alongside the Dora Milaje, a trained group of female bodyguards and fighters who protect the country and the king, the Black Panther.

READ MORE:

Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong’o To Star As Mother And Daughter ‘The Woman King’ — True Story of Dahomey Amazon Warriors

 

Photo by: Mike Smith/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

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