From Netflix comes the African Queens series, and the first series focuses on Njinga, Queen of Ndongo and Matamba.
Netflix describes it as “a new documentary series exploring the lives of prominent and iconic African Queens. The first season will cover 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.”
Queen Njinga is covered in four episodes from her early life to her death. The story rather drags initially as it tries to build Njinga’s backstory. While I was most horrified by the death of her son and her forced sterilization at the hands of her own brother when I read about it, the series barely covers it.
Njinga is rightly shown as a brave and shrewd warrior and leader, but for some reason, it feels like something is missing, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Nevertheless, African Queens is off to an interesting start, and I can’t wait to see more Queens being covered.
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