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

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.

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.

"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."

Yseult's husband, who is Senegalese, helped translate her intentions to the local shop owners. "They were quite interested in the stories of these women -- especially Aline Sitoe Diatta," she says, referring to a Senegalese heroine who gained fame for her resistance to French colonial rule. "Because they knew who she was, they could relate to her."

The research, says Yseult, grew out of a previous project called "Women from Another Century", which similarly profiles strong female figures from the past. While visiting Senegal, she spent time researching in the library of a local gallery and uncovering West Africa's tradition of female warriors. She also does a lot of research on the internet.

Many of the women she has portrayed for this series remain anonymous to her -- though their images have been appropriated into the history books, their names have not. "When I choose a picture to draw, it needs to be very strong. It's a very personal feeling," she says. "I don't say to myself, 'I'll choose it because of this and this.' I just look at the picture and if there's something that happens inside me, I know it's the portrait to do."

Not everyone she comes into contact with in Senegal feels positive about her work, she says."They're not used to street art," she acknowledges. "They're more used to images related to religion. They don't really care for art."

The portraits of anonymous women were the hardest for locals to relate to, she admits. It helped, however, when she shared the stories of some of her subjects."They might say, 'Oh, she looks like my neighbor,' or find another way to re-appropriate the installation."

Yseult's own background is mixed. She is part-French, part-Guadeloupian, and she believes she has African roots as well. "I really wanted to know Africa because I have roots here. When I arrived in September and researched these women, I could relate them to my own story. It was very inspiring for me."

Yseult is also planning on painting local women and using accessories to portray their heritage."I would take the pictures myself because many of these women don't have photos of their own," she says.

Yseult uses a very thin paper to paint her portraits in order to allow the textures of the surface she pastes on to show through.

"Where I put my posters is as important as my projects. They work together," she says. "If the paper covers something underneath, it's not going to work."

The women warriors of Senegal

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In a statement Mo Abudu, Chief Executive Officer, said, “Our vision has always been to change the narrative about Africa and to tell our stories from our perspective.”

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Nigerian filmmaker Femi Odugbemi applauded the deal. He told CNN, “It’s the first time I think a global company, or a company with a global footprint, is coming to the table, not just to give crumbs but to actually to try to collaborate in a way that expands opportunity for creating (stories) of African descent.”

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The deal comes after a boom in interest for African stories in TV and Film.

Marvel’s “Black Panther,” set in a fictional African nation Wakanda, has been major global hit smashing the $1 billion box office mark. The film features an all-female force, the Dora Milaje.

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EbonyLife was founded in 2013 and produces television dramas and series for an Anglo-African audience.

It has also recently branched out into movie-making with productions such as “The Wedding Party,” in 2016 and “Royal Hibiscus Hotel,” which was recently picked up for distribution by Amazon.

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In a press release, Wayne Garvie, President of International Production at Sony Pictures Television said, “Our aim is to help Ebony Life create a portfolio of African content that will fulfil their aim of being one of Africa’s prime creator of premium content.”

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The partnership between Sony Pictures and EbonyLife could change the landscape for African storytelling, Odugbemi said.

“The content is based on something empowering,” Odugbemi said. “The stories are places of inspiration that allow a generation to find its own purpose and build on its history and its past.”