Where Was The Woman King Filmed? An Epic Historical Drama!

There are so many things that make epic historical dramas fun to watch. From great storylines to complex costumes, these movies and shows take you back to the past eras. The Woman King also explores a time in history when an all-female warrior group used to protect an African kingdom. The movie takes you on a thrilling adventure that makes you wonder about the serene locations and gives us a chance to tell you where was The Woman King filmed.

The Woman King was recently released on 16 September 2022 and has received positive reviews from audiences and this year’s best rotten tomatoes scores until now. The movie stars Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, and Sheila Atim in the lead roles. The movie was directed by Prince- Bythewood, who is also known for the Netflix action drama film The Old Guard.

Coming back to the filming locations, The Woman King’s shooting took place at various places across South Africa. For the first two weeks, the production crew filmed in the coastal province of KwaZulu Natal and then shifted to Cape Town, where most of the filming took place. In this article, we will tell you about the plot of The Woman King and discuss its filming locations.

The Plot Of The Woman King | A Story About Female Warriors Of Dahomey!

The Woman King revolves around the story of a West African kingdom Dahomey in the 1820s. General Nanisca leads a group of all-female warriors called Agojie. This group liberates other women that are slaved by the Oyo empire, leading to an all-out war between the Dahomey and Oyo empires. In order to protect the kingdom, Nanisca starts to train the new generation of warriors.

As the women warriors train together, they develop friendships and get to know about familial relationships between some of them. The war breaks out, and Nanisca leads the Agojie warriors in the attack and becomes successful. During the attack, a few Agojie warriors get captured. Meanwhile, King Ghezo declares Nanisca “The Woman King” of Dahomey Kingdom but refuses to help the captives. Nanisca denies King’s orders and sets out to rescue the captives with the help of some Agojie warriors.

Where Was The Woman King Filmed? Exotic African Filming Locations!

The Woman King is based on the real events of history, so the makers were very keen on shooting the movie in Africa. They wanted to benefit from the landscape and the local elements giving the movie a real-life feeling. This makes the filming locations of the movie very interesting topics to talk about, and the readers seem very keen on knowing about them. So here we are discussing the locations in detail to tell you where was The Woman King filmed.

KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal is the second most populous coastal province in South Africa. The area is known for its beaches, Mountainscapes, dry savannahs, and rich wildlife. With its historic battlefields, tantalizing resort towns, and local heritages, this place becomes a popular tourist destination in Soth Africa. 

The production crew scouted various locations, and they wanted to find lush green forests and palm trees. They were successful and happy to find exactly those things in northern KwaZulu. The opening battle scene at Mahi village in the movie was filmed here. 

The real events that took place in the 1820s were based in West Africa, so the crew wanted to set up the sunrise shots in such a way that they can get beautiful light and a view that is west facing. This Seems quite technical to us, but definitely intriguing to know, right? The sunset and sunrise scenes were finally filmed at Bonamazi Game Reserve.

Cape Town, South Africa

Cape town is a cosmopolitan city in South Africa that is centered around a tabletop mountain and lies close to nature. Capetown is known for its sheer variety of experiences that include beautiful beaches, good food, and incredible biodiversity. Cape town has always been a popular tourist destination and one of the favorite filming locations for film and TV productions.

Most of the scenes in The Woman King were filmed in Cape Town. The beach scenes in the movie were filmed at the famous Palmiet beach near Cape Town. The waterways were used as a river, and an over-the-wall escape scene of Nanisca and Nawi was filmed here as well. The Castle of Good Hope was used as the port of Qidah.

The battle scene between the Agojie and Oyo was filmed at the Wiesenhof Natural Reserve and was chosen for its West-facing view. The production crew also built a full set for King Ghezo’s Palace in an old munitions factory named Paardevlie on the outskirts of Cape Town. 

Cape Town is an incredibly beautiful city, and there are so many things that you can do here as a tourist. You can take a cable car to the top of the mountain, hike all the way to Lion’s head, go see Nelson Mandela’s prison cell on Robben Island and watch penguins at Boulders beach.

Cape Town’s amazing locations and world-class infrastructure made it a popular destination for filming and production crews. Many popular shows like Black Mirror and Homeland and films like Mad Max: Fury Road were filmed here in Cape Town as well.

Final Words

The locations did proper justice to the movie and highlighted the rich cultural history and imagery of the Agojie warriors and their habitat in a beautiful way. We hope now you know about all the major locations in the movie and have an idea about where was The Woman King filmed. If you haven’t watched the movie yet, then this weekend could be your opportunity to see this epic movie. Also, tell us your thoughts about the locations of the movie in the comments section below.

If you like reading the filming location articles, then do check out the filming location section on our website for similar content. You can also check out the locations of the latest drama movie Father Stu or the 50s epic movie Shane.