Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing continues to give shine to underrepresented voices and stories by people of color and women with their latest acquisition, The Burial of Kojo from musical artist and filmmaker Samuel “Blitz” Bazawule. This marks the 22nd acquisition for ARRAY which has become an epicenter of independent film driven by inclusive storytelling. ARRAY has acquired distribution rights for the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The Burial of Kojo will debut on Netflix March 31 in tandem with a national screening tour. DuVernay made the announcement online Friday.
The Burial of Kojo is an official selection of the 2019 Pan African Film Festival and the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Winner. Marking his feature debut, Bazawule tells the story of two brothers through the eyes of a gifted girl who travels beautiful lands that exist between life and death. The trailer above shows Bazwule’s stunning vision of the familial narrative through the lens of magical realism and Afrofuturism.
“Through his fantastic film, director Samuel “Blitz” Bazawule weaves African mythology and socio-political issues into a stunning tapestry punctuated by both drama and dreams,” says ARRAY’s Vice President Tilane Jones. “We are proud to present the gorgeous Ghanaian film, The Burial of Kojo, as our 22nd ARRAY acquisition.”
This adds to ARRAY’s robust roster of films including the recently acquired MERATA: How Mum Decolonised the Screen from Heperi Mita which spotlights the life and work of his mother Merata Mita. An activist, she became a longtime Sundance Institute advisor and was the first Indigenous woman in the world to direct a film on her own. ARRAY acquired the title last month during the Sundance Film Festival when the documentary made its debut. Prior to MERATA, ARRAY acquired Lisa France’s feature documentary debut Roll With Me, which chronicles recovering addict and paraplegic Gabriel Cordell’s momentous journey to become the first person to roll an unmodified wheelchair across America. The docu made its premiere on Dec. 1 on Netflix.
The Burial of Kojo deal was negotiated by Gordon Bobb of Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano on behalf of ARRAY as well as Samuel Wilson of Salzano, Jackson & Lampert, LLP for the filmmaker.
