Nollywood, Sony Pictures join forces for TV series on all-female African army

By Chris Giles, CNN

Updated 1614 GMT (0014 HKT) March 29, 2018

Nigerian studio EbonyLife and Sony Pictures Television are to produce a TV series on the West African Dahomey Warriors. They're following in the footsteps of box office hit "Black Panther," which featured the all-female security services of Dora Milaje.
Nigerian studio EbonyLife and Sony Pictures Television are to produce a TV series on the West African Dahomey Warriors. They're following in the footsteps of box office hit "Black Panther," which featured the all-female security services of Dora Milaje.

Story highlights

  • Production studio with global footprint partners with Nollywood
  • African-inspired stories like "Black Panther" have seen commercial success

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)A first time collaboration between an American TV production studio and Nollywood has been announced.

Sony Pictures Television will co-develop three TV projects -- including a series on a 19th-century all-female African force -- with Nigerian network EbonyLife, one of the biggest TV networks on the continent.
    The announced TV show is inspired by the story of the Dahomey Warriors, an all-female West African military group.
      It will be set in the Kingdom of Dahomey and tell the story of how the women protect their nation.
      Female warriors can be overlooked in the annals of history. French street artist YZ Yseult is paying tribute to the Dahomey Amazons, a 19th-century all-female military regiment that fought against the French in Dahomey (modern-day Benin). The series is called Project Amazone.
      Photos: A militia of female warriors fought for West Africa. Now, they're street art
      Female warriors can be overlooked in the annals of history. French street artist YZ Yseult is paying tribute to the Dahomey Amazons, a 19th-century all-female military regiment that fought against the French in Dahomey (modern-day Benin). The series is called Project Amazone.
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      Yseult draws large scale portraits from old images and pastes them on the walls of female-owned businesses around Senegal, particularly on restaurants and breakfast stands.
      Photos: A militia of female warriors fought for West Africa. Now, they're street art
      Yseult draws large scale portraits from old images and pastes them on the walls of female-owned businesses around Senegal, particularly on restaurants and breakfast stands.
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      "I'm very impressed with the women of Senegal," Yseult says. "They take care of their families and take care of their businesses. They work from five in the morning until nine in the evening. They are warriors in their way, and I have a lot of respect for them, and that's why I put my paintings on their houses."
      Photos: A militia of female warriors fought for West Africa. Now, they're street art
      "I'm very impressed with the women of Senegal," Yseult says. "They take care of their families and take care of their businesses. They work from five in the morning until nine in the evening. They are warriors in their way, and I have a lot of respect for them, and that's why I put my paintings on their houses."
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