Valerie Fields Hill
News Editor
Texas Metro News
Dozens of moviegoers will walk the red carpet in Fort Worth Thursday prior to a showing of Viola Davis’s The Woman King movie.
The red-carpet is one of several activities surrounding opening night for The Woman King, the highly anticipated blockbuster film shot on location in Africa and featuring award-winning actress Davis as Nanisca, the leader of an elite army of women warriors.
Monday, organizers said the movie event was expected to sell out.
“We have about eight tickets left,” said Donya Craddock, who oversees marketing communications for The Dock Bookshop in Fort Worth, a co-sponsor of the event along with the Fort Worth Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
The Woman King chronicles the Agojie all-female army who, in the 1800s, protected the Dahomey kingdom from European enslavement and other outside influences.
The allure of the movie, for many who will attend Thursday’s activities, is a view of African women as strong leaders, influencers and war strategists, said Craddock.
“It’s empowering for Africans and African Americans. When we look at it, it is a survival of a culture and a survival of a people.”
The movie is an action film, but it’s also a drama: In it, the Agojie women train relentlessly; they violently take on armies of men who underestimate their strength – and brute.
Still, there is a love story amidst it all. It’s almost universally praised by movie critics, many of whom assert it is Davis’ finest acting.
Undoubtedly, The Woman King will be compared to Marvel’s Black Panther. That’s because the Dora Milaje, the female warriors of Black Panther were mostly modeled after the Agojie women warriors.
The latest movie offers themes of resilience and overcoming obstacles, which resonate with many women of color, said Craddock who, with her sister Donna, owns The Dock Bookshop.
“We’re in an age of (women’s) empowerment,” she said. “We’re in an age of elevating the Black voice.”
Aside from the red-carpet walk, Thursday’s event includes a showing of the movie and a panel discussion. The panel features Craddock and Dr. Aundrea Matthews in a discussion of Davis’ book, Finding Me, and a broader discussion of the women warriors of Dahomey.
The event begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at Movie Tavern West 7th, 2872 Crockett St., in Fort Worth. Tickets are 15. To purchase tickets, click here:
