French-African copro drama Women Are from Mars to start shooting in Cameroon

France’s Habebo Studios, Cameroon’s NS Pictures and Astou Productions in Senegal have teamed up to coproduce a pilot of Cameroon-set drama series Les Femmes Viennent de Mars (Women Are from Mars).

Estheline Fomat

Created by writer and showrunner Estheline Fomat, it will be directed by Marco Tchichot (Mami Wata), with Teddy Albert (Christmas in Miami) attached as director of photography.

Described as a project exploring the power dynamics between couples in relationships, it follows a man who gave up his own dreams to finance his wife’s engineering studies. However, his life as a stay-at-home dad is suddenly shattered by an unexpected revelation following his father’s death.

Filming will begin this summer in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, with support from the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, ACP-EU Culture and the FILMAC programme.

International distribution is being handled by Habebo Studios. No commissioning broadcaster or platform has been announced.

Fomat said: “I wanted to deconstruct traditional narratives, explore the intimacy of relationships from a new perspective, and provoke reflection on freedom and equality within couples, far from the usual clichés.”