The story is told by a little girl, and it begins with her father falling into a mine. The Burial of Kojo, released in 2018, is a fable about two brothers, a family and a country, filmed in Ghana by Blitz Bazawule. It looks like no other Ghanaian film.
Blitz Bazawule
Samuel Bazawule, known first as the rapper Blitz the Ambassador, was born in Accra and moved to the United States, where he built a career in music. He turned to filmmaking with a distinctive visual style that blends realism, magic and African folklore. He later co-directed the visual album Black Is King with Beyoncé and directed the 2023 film version of The Color Purple.
The story
Esi, played by Cynthia Dankwa, narrates the story of her father, Kojo, played by Joseph Otsiman. Kojo has a troubled history with his brother Kwabena. When Kojo becomes trapped in an abandoned mine, Esi must find a way to save him, guided by visions and a mysterious crow.
Galamsey
The film touches on galamsey, the illegal small-scale mining that has damaged Ghana’s rivers and forests. Kojo’s fall into a mine connects the family story to a national crisis.
The look
The film is known for its colours, its dreamlike images and its use of Ghanaian landscapes. Bazawule’s background in music videos and visual art shows in every frame.
The cast
Alongside Otsiman and Dankwa, the cast included Ama K. Abebrese, Kobina Amissah-Sam, Mamley Djangmah and Henry Adofo. Many critics singled out the young Dankwa’s performance as Esi.
ARRAY
The film was released in the United States by ARRAY, the distribution company founded by the filmmaker Ava DuVernay to support films by people of colour and women. The actor Jesse Williams was an executive producer. The film later reached a wide audience through streaming.
Recognition
The Burial of Kojo screened at film festivals around the world, including the Luxor African Film Festival, and was praised by critics for its originality.
A musician’s eye
Bazawule’s background in music shapes the film’s rhythm. Scenes flow like movements in a song, and the soundtrack plays a central role in the storytelling. He has spoken about wanting to make African films that are not explanations for foreign audiences but stories told in their own language and logic. The film’s use of Ghanaian folklore, including the symbolic crow and the spiritual world that Esi enters, reflects that ambition. It does not stop to explain every symbol. Viewers are invited to experience the story the way a child like Esi would.
Ghanaian cinema is often associated with fast, low-budget video films. The Burial of Kojo showed another possibility: a patient, artistic film rooted in Ghanaian stories and made for the world. It launched a director who went on to Hollywood.
