{"id":66521,"date":"2022-10-21T14:10:04","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T03:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=222862"},"modified":"2022-10-21T17:00:37","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T17:00:37","slug":"the-woman-king-interview-cathy-schulman","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/the-woman-king-interview-cathy-schulman\/","title":{"rendered":"What Really Makes a Woman, King?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nanisca (Viola Davis) in TriStar Pictures’ THE WOMAN KING. Credit: Supplied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Of course, there’s nothing we can’t do.” <\/em>That was the response of cinematographer Polly Morgan when questioned on setting up a crane in a river on set in the northern cape of South Africa. Cathy Schulman<\/a>, an Academy Award winning producer on the film, recalls fighting the terrain and blistering heat to film the Sony Pictures historical epic, The Woman King.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Thousands of miles from Hollywood, a female-fueled cast and crew brought to life the remarkable tale of the Agojie, an all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century. Sitting at the helm of Welle Entertainment, a production company dedicated to telling diverse stories, Schulman was captivated by the true story of this all-female army. Inspired by productions such as Black Panther,\u00a0<\/em>she felt compelled to share another rare film about the African continent.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Supplied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the same fierceness seen on the silver screen, a collective of passionate female creatives (including producer and lead actress on the film Viola Davis) fought for the film from development, to financing – a battle of its own – and finally to release. A process Schulman says took seven years.<\/p>\n

Also starring Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch<\/a>, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega, The Woman King<\/em> finds incredible duality in frenetic battle scenes and a familiar sense of womanhood. GRAZIA Australia<\/em> spoke with Schulman on what really makes a woman, king.<\/p>\n

GRAZIA: You were given book written in French that detailed the history behind the Agojie. At what point during those seven months of reading did you feel that it could form a film?<\/h5>\n

Cathy Schulman: \u201cI actually felt it could be a film even before reading the book because I heard stories, the actual mere existence, of an all-female army in itself seemed like the perfect place to anchor a story. The more that I became educated about the Agojie and the unique nature of this kingdom known as Dahomey, it just became really an intoxicating idea and it felt very self-distinguishing and that we could make a movie that would look and feel like nothing that no one had ever seen”<\/p>\n

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(L to R) Thuso Mbedu, Viola Davis and Shelia Atim star in The Woman King. Credit: Supplied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
And what did you find most fascinating about the history?<\/h5>\n

CS: \u201cIn this culture every position in government was held by both a man and a woman together. There was this belief culturally that decisions should be made with both a male and female perspective. I thought, \u2018My God, where have we been all this time. Why is this such a hard notion for the rest of the world?\u2019. That\u2019s the origin of the notion \u201cThe Woman King\u201d came from, the mere idea that we could make a movie about a king and a king, not a king and a queen was where it all began. Then we started to search for a place and a time within their history to set it and ultimately came to this decision to set it on and around 1823 when the nation was in a very transitional time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the production notes you recalled how hard it is for women to receive financing for films. Can you paint a picture of what occurred in that very first pitch meeting?<\/h5>\n

CS: \u201cWhat normally happens is that you get rejected. Honestly for me I started on this a really long time ago when I was still an executive at a studio and the first time I pitched it I was told, \u2018Well it sounds like a cool idea if you can make it for five million dollars\u2019. That didn\u2019t go very well knowing [the film] was wall-to-wall epic battle scenes. It continued like that for a while but we were really lucky that when we went TriStar, they could see our vision. Not only that but they were willing to take a chance on a theatrical film at a time when everyone was moving towards streaming. That was an enormous vote of confidence. By the time that Nicole Brown became the president of that division, and Nicole is also a Black woman, this became a real cause for her to get a movie like this in Hollywood, the first of its type. It was an enormous breakthrough, and we were happy to have the support.\u201d<\/p>\n