African Queens Njinga is a historical documentary series, released on Netflix on 15th February 2023. The series is directed by Tina Gharavi and Victoria Adeola Thomas. Executive produced and narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, the screenplay is written by NneNne Iwuji, and Peres Owino and the cinematography is done by Sean Francis. There are 4 episodes in total with a runtime of about 44-48 minutes.
The cast of the series includes Jada Pinkett Smith, Adesuwa Oni, Chipo Kureya, Marilyn Nnadebe, Philips Nortey, Thabo Rametsi, Cory Hippolyte and Zethu Dlomo. Along with Queen Diambi Kabatusuila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, historian Rosa Cruz e Silva, Dr Kellie Carter Jackson, Luke Pepera, Mary Hicks and others give us insightful information about the period.
Netflix’s description of the series reads:
Executive produced and narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, this docuseries about warrior Queen Njinga of Angola features expert interviews and reenactments.
-African Queens Njinga Review Does Not Contain Spoilers-
The series covers the life of Njinga, the complex, captivating, and fearless 17th-century warrior queen of Ndongo and Matamba, in modern-day Angola. The nation’s first female ruler, Njinga earned a reputation for her blend of political and diplomatic skill with military prowess and became an icon of resistance.
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It is essentially a docu-drama where the life of Queen Njinga is re-enacted and supported by historical facts, tell-tales and information from the people who have studied about the era. Adesuwa Oni takes up the role of the fearless warrior who was born to lead. In the series, it was claimed that she was the only female African leader, or woman king, to be recognised by the European colonisers.
It starts off in 1617 in Ndongo which is what Angola used to be called. The current Ngola or king is facing the issue of Portuguese occupation, where they are capturing people from the west and central Africa and selling them off as slaves to work in sugarcane or coffee plantations. Many sobas – who are community leaders under the rule of the king are also siding with the Portuguese and that creates more issues.
While Ngola had his successors, Mbande, Khilwanji, Kambu, Funji and the one he adores the most Njinga. He believes her to be the hope of Ndongo and as time stands true, she truly becomes that. If we look at it solely as a story, then it has all the elements that we see in a period drama, where there’s a struggle for power and possession.
There’s a rivalry between the siblings for the throne, which leads to bloodshed and there’s an exterior common enemy that is threatening to destroy all their lives. Despite all the hardships, Njinga strategies and uses her excellent combat skills to rise above all the tragedies and stand tall in front of all the enemies and slavery.
While one can’t argue with why the story is created like that, since it’s based on a real person’s life – what seems to be lacking is the creation of the world they are living in. We get to know what kind of person the characters are but we don’t get to know anything about the society they live in or their culture.
They show that she is different from other women of her time but what was the general life of the other women like? They sprinkled bits here and there, like the spiritual advisor Nganga or the concept of male concubines and even Imbangala but we didn’t even scratch the surface of it. There were hints about them being possibly cannibals etc but there wasn’t much about them apart from being a warrior group, feared by everyone.
I believe being a documentary, they should have explored every character associated with her and not just her life milestones. With all the historians and the successor Queen on the panel, they failed to create a picture of the rich world that would have been interesting to learn about.
Final Thoughts: African Queens Njinga
Overall, the series is a celebration of Queen Njinga and how she overcame different tragedies in her life and came to reign. We get to know about an immaculate figure in history, but if you were hoping for something like The Woman King and Black Panther Wakanda Forever, then it’s not it. The series simply shows the biography of the queen sans the adrenaline-filled action sequences or any budding romance.
African Queens Njinga is currently streaming on Netflix.