National Geographic celebrates Women of Impact this March

They live among primates in the jungle, dive the oceans for clues to the health of our planet, uncover our human origins in African caves and test new technologies in outer space. They break glass ceilings in newsrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms and classrooms. National Geographic’s brand initiative for 2020, Women of Impact, will showcase history-making and boundary-breaking women whose stories create a stunning portrait of their past, present and future impact on our world.

Oscar®-nominated documentary feature The Cave will premiere on National Geographic channel (DStv 181) on Sunday, 8 March, at 21h00 CAT, on International Women’s Day, marking the start of the channel’s Women of Impact celebration. The Cave unveils the harrowing true story of an underground hospital in war-torn Syria and the inspirational female doctor running it. Thereafter, each Sunday night until South African Women’s Day (9 August 2020), will play host to more stories of remarkable, diverse, brave and heroic women, from Jane Goodall, to Diana, Princess of Wales, Amelia Earhart and many more.

This stunt will culminate in in the third instalment of National Geographic’s Emmy Award-winning anthology series, Genius, which will showcase the legendary Aretha Franklin. Oscar®-nominated Cynthia Erivo will play the lead role in the first ever, definitive scripted limited series on the life of the universally acclaimed queen of soul, in Genius: Aretha.

“The Cave’s 2020 Oscar® nomination for best Documentary Feature is an exciting moment for us, as it further shines a light on the remarkable work done by Dr Amani in war-torn Syria. I could think of no better way to start our Women of Impact campaign, that showcases so many prolific women across the globe,” said Evert van der Veer, Vice President, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company Africa.

Women of Impact programming will include:

The Cave
Sunday, 8 March, at 21h00
From Oscar-nominated director Feras Fayyad (“Last Men in Aleppo”) comes The Cave, a stirring portrait of courage, resilience and female solidarity. For besieged civilians in war-torn Syria, hope and safety lie underground inside the subterranean hospital known as the Cave, where paediatrician and managing physician Dr Amani Ballour and her colleagues Samaher and Dr Alaa have claimed their right to work as equals alongside their male counterparts, doing their jobs in a way that would be unthinkable in the oppressively patriarchal culture that exists above

Women of Impact (documentary)
Sunday, 15 March, at 21h00
It all starts with one question: How will you make the world a better place? From household names to rising stars, meet the women who are changing our world. The groundbreaking documentary, Women of Impact, features interviews with more than 40 boundary-breaking, history-making women including Sylvia Earle, Melinda Gates, Rae Wynn-Grant, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Jacinda Ardern and Beverly Joubert.

Katie’s new face
Sunday, 22 March, at 21h00
This short film is difficult to look at. Yet we are asking you to go on the remarkable journey of how a young woman received a face transplant because it reveals something profound about our humanity. Katie Stubblefield lost her face when she was 18. When she was 21, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio gave her a new one.

Diana: In her own words
Sunday, 29 March, at 21h00
In 1991, inside London's Kensington Palace, Diana, Princess of Wales, participated in a series of secret interviews, recorded with her permission by a close friend on behalf of journalist Andrew Morton. Morton was writing a book about Diana's life to reveal what life was really like for the most photographed woman in the world. The public was unaware that Diana, Princess of Wales', marriage to HRH Prince of Wales was at a crisis point. Now, National Geographic Documentary Films reveals Diana's thoughts and feelings at a very specific point in her life, presenting one side of a very complicated story, her side. Entirely in her voice, with no interviews, most of these unique recordings have never been broadcast before.

Tarini
Sunday, 19 April, at 21h00
Tarini is the story of six young women in one small sailboat out to conquer three oceans on their bid to circumnavigate the world. It's a trip of a lifetime. The girls will be out at sea for over 200 days before they return home and touch land just four times. That was the plan. But the oceans and the winds had other plans for the young naval women. The film spans their journey around the world, the challenges faced and celebrates the spirit of these six brave women.

Jane Goodall: The Hope
Sunday, 26 March, at 20h00
The next chapter of Dr Jane Goodall’s life’s work unfolds in Jane Goodall: The Hope. The two-hour documentary special will take viewers through chapters of Dr Goodall’s journey in the 60 sixty years since her groundbreaking discoveries in Gombe researching wild chimpanzees, including her activism, creation of her non-profit organization, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and Roots & Shoots youth programme, along with her current efforts to inspire the next generation.

Viking Warrior Women
Sunday, 31 May, at 21h00
Viking Warrior Women explores new discoveries that challenge everything we thought we knew, and showcases how cutting-edge science and technology have revealed evidence that elite viking warrior women lived and fought more than a thousand years ago.

Expedition Amelia
Sunday, 7 June, at 21h00
Expediation Amelia follows National Geographic explorer Bob Ballard’s quest to solve one of the most enduring mysteries of all time — the loss of another famed explorer, Amelia Earhart. Along the way it also tells the extraordinary and often overlooked story of Amelia herself — a record breaker and tireless advocate for women’s rights, a hundred years ahead of her time.

Genius: Aretha

Premieres with a double bill of episodes 1 and 2 on Sunday, 14 June, at 20h00, thereafter one episode per week, on Sundays at 21h00 until Sunday, 9 August.

Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo will star as Aretha Franklin in the next installment of the Emmy-winning global anthology series, Genius: Aretha. This upcoming season will be the first-ever, definitive and only authorised scripted limited series on the life of the universally acclaimed Queen of Soul. Genius dramatises the fascinating stories of the world’s most brilliant innovators, exploring their extraordinary achievements along with their volatile, passionate and complex personal relationships. The third season of the anthology series will explore Franklin’s musical genius and incomparable career, as well as the immeasurable impact and lasting influence she has had on music and culture around the world.

National Geographic’s Women of Impact starts Sunday, 8 March, at 21h00 CAT on DStv, Channel 181.