Look Back: Cinema Femme Voices: “Black Panther”
With the release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” coming this Friday (11/11/22) we bring back snippets of our January 2019 Black Panther issue and our interview with Oscar-Winning Production Designer Hannah Beachler. Earlier this year, we chose “Black Panther” to be our film focus for our January issue (read my editor’s letter here). I chose […]
A Look Back: The Women of Wakanda
The message of “Black Panther” is that the potential and influence of women must not be ignored or discounted. From the strategic actions of Nakia as an undercover spy and refugee saviour on a personal mission who will not abandon her calling, to the knowledge centre of Shuri, who has the final words of the film when she says to the injured Westerner Sergeant Barnes, “Come, there is much more for you to learn,” all the women excel as examples of depth and variety of the Black woman.
Body, Heart, Soul
General Okoye, Spy Nakia, Princess Shuri. The film might be “Black Panther” (2018), but without these women, there would be no T’Challa, no Black Panther, no Wakanda, no Earth. While T’Challa was coping with his new role and doubting everything he knew, the women of Wakanda were by his side, showing him who they already knew him to be.
Third world as we do not know it: why we need more Black Panthers that defy white patriarchy
Watching “Black Panther” has given me a similar experience, being from a country that most privileged nations deem “third world,” “regressed,” and “developing.” I belong to the same continent, if from a different sector with a different cultural backdrop and political history.
Cinema Femme New Year Issue — Editor’s Letter
Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” (2018) was chosen for our New Year issue because of the hope this film brought for onscreen representation, and because it’s proof that diverse, strong female characters do well in the box office.