It’s All About the Queens
National Geographic presents QUEENS – narrated by Angela Bassett premiering March 4th.
Forget what you know about old-school nature documentaries because QUEENS is changing the game. This series dives deep into the amazing, yet untold, stories of female powerhouses in the animal kingdom. It’s not just about uplifting women; it’s a vibrant cheer of “Yassss, queen!” celebrating female strength in all its forms, across all species. QUEENS does more than inform; it entertains and sparks inspiration, opening doors for the next generation of filmmakers, scientists, and storytellers. And who’s behind this groundbreaking series? Let’s meet the brilliant women who are bringing QUEENS to life.
QUEENS is bringing the natural world into focus through the female lens for the very first time. The series features matriarchies and female leaders from around the world to tell stories of sacrifice and resilience but also friendship and love. Each episode showcases matriarchs, from the peace-loving bonobos of the Congo basin to the ruthless jewel bees of Costa Rica to the powerful elephants of the Savanna. Through watching their struggles, successes, and heartbreaks, we see the importance of intergenerational love and protection, the fierce lengths a mother will go to to have her children succeed, how the thirst for power can rip families apart, and how even in the face of tragedy, a mother must selflessly persevere.
Four years in the making, QUEENS leverages cutting-edge technology to reveal surprising insights into how females in the natural world rise to power, often relying on cooperation and wisdom over brute strength to get ahead. The intimate production captured many staggering moments within the animal kingdom for the first time, including rarely seen hyena infanticide, the first filming of bonobos in the canopy from tree platforms, color documentation of the Ngorongoro Crater through the night, and a development time-lapse of the Orchid bee brood. The final episode of the series celebrates the women who have gone to the ends of the Earth and dedicated their lives to documenting and protecting animal queens.
QUEENS is produced by Wildstar Films for National Geographic. For Wildstar Films, Vanessa Berlowitz is the executive producer, and Chloe Sarosh serves as showrunner and writer. Sophie Darlington and Justine Evans are the series’ directors of photography. For National Geographic, Pamela Caragol is the executive producer, and Janet Han Vissering is the senior vice president of Development and Production.
