“It was important for this film to be ours; it was important for there not to be a white savour; it was important for it to be led by all Black females,” said Viola Davis on Friday at Toronto’s new Mademoiselle Raw Bar & Grill. The Academy Award-winning actor was in town for the premiere of her Sony Pictures feature, The Woman King. Just hours before the film’s TIFF premiere at Roy Thompson Hall (which we got to join, thanks to Peroni), Twitter Canada hosted a powerful panel centred on the importance of taking up space.
Davis was joined by castmates Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, and John Boyega for the talent-packed conversation. Director Gina Prince-Blythewood joined the cast later for the film’s much anticipated premiere.
Set in the 19th century, the Sony film follows the Agojie, an all-female army who protected the West African Kingdom of Dahomey. Davis stars as a general who trains the next generation of warriors how to combat their enemies. She’s also one of the producers. Black women were behind every aspect of the impressive production.
And it won’t be surprising if the talent-packed film is a hot contender come awards season. The Woman King impressively and cleverly weaves together a number of different messaging and themes, tear-jerkingly pulling on the heart strings. “I cried through the entire second half of the film,” says our editorial director, Steven Branco. “It was a reality check; inspiring, provocative, eye-opening and extremely moving, that resonated in so many ways. And the production, from the picture, to the score, acting, and story… It’s all top notch and came together so impactfully. It will definitely generate some Oscar buzz from several angles.”
And hopefully, the film will inspire other Black creators in the process. That’s Davis’ goal.
“It’s important within the context of the film, but it’s important in the context of the world, because there’s no way change and progress can happen if you don’t take risks,” says Davis of the concept of taking up space as a Black creator. “Listen, one of my favourite sayings, ‘what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly.’ And I think that as Black people – especially Black women – we’ve been given insurmountable odds. Our voices have been stifled; we haven’t been seen. We’ve been invisible for so long.”
Davis describes a recent interaction she had with a white male reporter who had expressed his enthusiasm for The Woman King, but said he felt he wasn’t the film’s audience.
“I had to say, ‘I’m going to stop you right there. You are the audience, because every time we do a movie, we have to appeal to you,” she explains. “We have to water down our voices, we have to water down our images, in order to fit whatever your perception, to ease your fears – to do all of that. When you don’t step into the room and don’t take risks and sort of just cave under the weight of the status quo, then it continues.”
“a seven-year journey of really blood, sweat, and tears…”
Viola Davis
Davis said she and her husband – with whom she shares production company JuVee Productions – fought for this project for the past seven years. She called the process of getting it made “a seven-year journey of really blood, sweat, and tears” at the film’s premiere.
“I’m going to be honest; I am going to make it plain in the words of Malcolm X: there are no words to quantify what that fight is,” she said at the Twitter panel. Davis and castmates described the challenge and barriers faced by Black actors and filmmakers in every step of the filmmaking process.
“Everyone thinks about the movie and its inception and then they see it on screen; they don’t talk about the process in between. If you were a fly on the wall and you could see; every time you’re walking in there, you’re hustling for your worth,” says Davis. “You’re fighting for simple stories; you’re fighting for the hair, the makeup; you know, what we look like. Can we make them prettier? Can we have more lipstick and not dirt? I am fighting for all these actors – who are, come on, frigging great – but they don’t have the resumes of their white counterparts, so you got to sell them in the room. You’ve got to fight for a budget. You have to fight for a proper budget.”
“I lived my life apologizing for existing.”
Thuso Mbedu
But, even when the movie has been made, there are very real consequences for the future of Black-made films and of creating diverse stories if people don’t come out and support it.
“If you don’t plop down money and see that film in the opening weekend, you’re not going to see us again,” says Davis. “When I say you’re not going to see us again, I’m not saying you’re not going to see me, Thuso, Lashana, Sheila and John again – that’s not what I’m saying. You’re not going to see Black females leading a movie again if you don’t support it.”
This action-packed film is definitely not one to miss; it intrigues in everything from its gripping storyline to the impressive acting and the sound score. And it’s worth every pretty penny of that theatre ticket.
“This film is for the risk-takers,” Davis told the crowd of filmgoers at Roy Thomson Hall. “This film is for the people who maybe even are the naysayers — who never believed that a Black woman, especially dark-skinned women, can lead a global box office.”
Get out and support: The Woman King opens in Theatres this weekend
Well, they better believe it. The highly anticipated and much buzzed-about The Woman King opens in theatres on September 16 – that’s next weekend.
“You have to do the job on the opening weekend, this movie has to make money or else this conversation is null and void,” says Davis. “That is the truth.”
Davis left filmgoers on an empowered note when asked to share a message for Black women who struggle. “What’s your message of inspiration and empowerment as it relates to our daily struggles here in Canada that is not unlike the rest of the world and the United States,” asked Black former MP and author, Celina Caesar-Chavannes.
Davis didn’t mince her words.
“That you’re worthy,” replied Davis. “Everything starts with worth. And I think that there is a continual message in our culture that we are not worthy. Our numbers far surpass anyone else. We are 246% more likely to die giving birth. 75% of women who are sex trafficked are young black girls. If you are raped before the age of 18 and you are a black female, you have a 68% chance of it happening again. There is a sense that we are the leftovers.”
Davis told the audience she wanted to do for young Black girls what Cicely Tyson did for her when she was 7-years old.
“She was a physical manifestation of a dream. And she came to me through a broken down television set in a dilapidated department in Santa Falls, Rhode Island,” recalled Davis. “And once she delivered to me with something that can’t even be quantified in words, that’s what I would give to young Black girls. That you know what I think I said today at the Twitter event is ‘what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly.’ That’s what I would give to them, and this movie is a gift to them.”
Editor's Note: Special thank you to Twitter Canada for having us at the panel hosted with the cast at Mademoiselle, and Peroni for hosting us at the Red Carpet Suite with tickets to attend the World Premiere of The Woman King at TIFF.