The Latest Breaking News from Dahomey

The blockbuster retelling of Benin’s history of elite women warriors has transfixed audiences in the West African country. Our reporter joins the crowds

Inside the strife set off by an essay from the president of the American Historical Association

Can the cinematic potential of what these exceptional warriors symbolize overcome the dark reality of history?

Oscar winner Viola Davis has responded to critics of her latest film, "The Woman King," after they called for a boycott of the movie because it isn't entirely historically accurate.

The historical action epic, starring Viola Davis, tells the story of the Agojie, female African warriors who once reigned supreme

With her rousing new action-drama, "The Woman King," director Gina Prince-Bythewood suggests that, in at least one crucial respect, the West African kingdom of Dahomey was more ahead of its time than that starry imperialist empire called Hollywood. An early 19th-century epic awash in militaristic might and colonial oppression, the…

The Woman King is designed to get audiences cheering—but it does so without ignoring the brutal realities of combat.

The Woman King is a big-budget Hollywood movie that has been anticipated since 2018, when US star Viola Davis was announced as the lead in the story of the “amazons” of Dahomey. Rising South African star Thuso Mbedu also takes a key role in the film, which has premiered at…

When actress Maria Bello visited the West African nation of Benin in 2015, she learned the history of the Agojie, an all-female military regiment from the Kingdom of Dahomey (and the inspiration for Wakanda’s Dora Milaje from “Black Panther”). Recognizing the cinematic potential for this story, she developed the project…