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Women warriors on screen

Oscar winning producer Cathy Schulman and Scandinavian star Caroline Henderson take us behind the scenes of The Woman King and the Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla.

Throughout history, women have been fearlessly taking up arms and waging war, but the stories of female fighters tend to be forgotten. That is changing, with more female warriors taking centre stage in films and TV series. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women committed to bringing these stories into the limelight.

Cathy Schulman is an Academy award winning producer, showrunner and screenwriter. She’s one of the producers of The Woman King, starring another Oscar winner, actor Viola Davis, and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The movie is set in West Africa in 1823 and tells the story of the Agojie, an all-female army that protected the Dahomey Kingdom.

Caroline Henderson is a Danish-Swedish singer and actor. After winning eight Danish Music Awards and working in theatre productions across Europe, Caroline now stars in the Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla as Jarl Haakon, the ruler of the fictional town of Kattegat. In real life, Caroline is a Knight of Dannebrog, a title she received from Queen Margarethe II of Denmark in 2010.

Produced by Alice Gioia

(Image: (L) Cathy Schulman, credit Getty. (R) Caroline Henderson, credit Karina Tengberg.)

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27 minutes

Last on

Sat 15 Oct 202207:32GMT
BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa

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  • Sat 15 Oct 202207:32GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa

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