Jada Pinkett Smith is continuing her examination of the true histories of African Queens with the latest installment of her Netflix docuseries.
After warm fan reaction to African Queens: Njinga starring Adesuwa Oni in reenactments from the queen’s life, this season will feature an in-depth look at Cleopatra, the world’s most famous, powerful, and misunderstood woman – a daring queen whose beauty and romances came to overshadow her real asset: her intellect.
On top of executive producing, Pinkett Smith narrates the series, which plays out as part dramatization, part historical documentary featuring 4, 45-minute episodes.
“We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them!” said executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith. “Cleopatra is a queen who many know about, but not in her truth. She’s been displayed as overtly sexual, excessive, and corrupt, yet she was a strategist, an intellect, a commanding force of nature, who fought to protect her kingdom…and her heritage is highly debated.”
“This season will dive deeper into her history and re-assesses this fascinating part of her story.”
Produced by the Smiths’ Westbrook Studios in partnership with Nutopia and written by Peres Owino and NneNne Iwuji, the series seeks to re-contextualize and re-examine Cleopatra’s heritage, which has been the subject of much academic debate often ignored by Hollywood in favor of sensationalized tales of her beauty, cunning, and sensuality.
Take a look at the Queen Cleopatra trailer below: