{
 "id": "epgc3fxy68",
 "slug": "the-burial-of-kojo",
 "title": "The Burial of Kojo",
 "updated": "2026-11-01",
 "topic_path": [
  {
   "id": "culture",
   "label": "Arts and culture",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance",
   "label": "Screen and stage",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen",
   "label": "Film and television",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films",
   "label": "Films and standalone screen works",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works",
   "label": "Individual films by title and year",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical",
   "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019",
   "label": "Drama films 2015 to 2019",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019"
  },
  {
   "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018",
   "label": "Drama films 2017 and 2018",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018"
  }
 ],
 "geo": [
  {
   "id": "geo.afr.t2001.culture.performance",
   "label": "Sub-Saharan Africa · 2001 to 2020: Screen and stage",
   "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.afr.t2001.culture.performance",
   "path": [
    {
     "id": "geo.afr",
     "label": "Sub-Saharan Africa",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.afr"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.afr.t2001",
     "label": "Sub-Saharan Africa · 2001 to 2020",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.afr.t2001"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.afr.t2001.culture",
     "label": "Arts and culture",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.afr.t2001.culture"
    },
    {
     "id": "geo.afr.t2001.culture.performance",
     "label": "Screen and stage",
     "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.afr.t2001.culture.performance"
    }
   ]
  }
 ],
 "excerpt": "The Burial of Kojo is Blitz Bazawule's 2018 Ghanaian magical-realist debut feature about Esi, her father Kojo, and uncle Kwabena; ARRAY-distributed, Netflix-released March 2019, Urbanworld and Luxor award winner.",
 "snippet": "The Burial of Kojo is Blitz Bazawule's 2018 Ghanaian magical-realist debut feature about Esi, her father Kojo, and uncle Kwabena; ARRAY-distributed, Netflix-released March 2019, Urbanworld and Luxor award winner.",
 "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2015-to-2019.drama-films-2017-and-2018",
 "markdown": "# The Burial of Kojo\n\n**The Burial of Kojo** is a 2018 Ghanaian-American drama film directed and written by Samuel \"Blitz\" Bazawule, telling the story of a young girl, Esi, who recounts her childhood and the bitter rivalry between her father, Kojo, and her uncle, Kwabena, through a magical-realist lens. It is Bazawule's debut feature film, made with a modest budget raised through a [Kickstarter](https://www.edgepedia.org/kickstarter) campaign, and it became the first Ghanaian movie to premiere on Netflix when the streaming service released it in March 2019.<sup>[1](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://amdb.tv/movie/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writer | Samuel \"Blitz\" Bazawule, a Ghanaian-born filmmaker and musician known by the stage name Blitz the Ambassador; his debut feature<sup>[1](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup> |\n| Production | Ghana and USA, 2018, 80 minutes, drama and thriller<sup>[1](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup> |\n| Principal cast | Cynthia Dankwa (Esi), Joseph Otsiman (Kojo), Kobina Amissah-Sam (Kwabena), Mamley Djangmah (Ama), Ama K. Abebrese (older Esi, narrator)<sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-burial-of-kojo)</sup> |\n| Awards | Best Narrative Feature (World Cinema) at the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival; Grand Nile Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2019 Luxor African Film Festival<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup> |\n| Distribution | ARRAY, Ava DuVernay's company; on Netflix in the United States from March 2019 to April 2022<sup>[5](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-burial-of-kojo-reviewed-a-boldly-lyrical-portrait-of-a-young-ghanaian-girl)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-burial-of-kojo)</sup> |\n| Critical reception | 100% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 15 reviews<sup>[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_burial_of_kojo)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and structure\n\nEsi, shown as a grown woman (Ama K. Abebrese), recounts the story of her father Kojo's death (Joseph Otsiman) and the strained bond he shared with his brother Kwabena (Kobina Amissah-Sam).<sup>[7](https://inreviewonline.com/2019/04/12/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup> Esi lives with her mother, Ama (Mamley Djangmah), and her father in a poor village of small houses built on stilts in a lake, connected to the shore by narrow walkways. Kojo, a loving but unreliable fisherman, takes Esi around the lake in his boat and spins entrancing tales; he is haunted by dreams rooted in his city years, when he and his elder brother Kwabena were rivals for the same woman. Kwabena married her, but she died in a car accident on their wedding day, poisoning the bond between the brothers.<sup>[5](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-burial-of-kojo-reviewed-a-boldly-lyrical-portrait-of-a-young-ghanaian-girl)</sup>\n\nWhen the family's finances fail, Kwabena arrives with promises of a better life in the city, and Kojo moves the family to Accra against his wife's judgment and his daughter's forebodings. There Kwabena draws him into digging for gold on the off-limits site of a mine shut down by a Chinese company. The film's premise, as summarized by distributors, is that Kojo is trapped in a mine shaft by his vengeful brother while Esi embarks on a magical journey to rescue him.<sup>[5](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-burial-of-kojo-reviewed-a-boldly-lyrical-portrait-of-a-young-ghanaian-girl)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-burial-of-kojo)</sup>\n\nThe narrative constantly shifts in and out of the supernatural, blending a real-world story with a hazier sense of spiritualism. Esi's unearthly journeys take her into a plane populated by figures of Ghanaian myth and superstition that reveal themselves as avatars of people from her real life; much of her life is based on a vision dreamt by her father, in which Esi was destined to save the world.<sup>[7](https://inreviewonline.com/2019/04/12/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup> The ending leaves the cause of Kojo's disappearance open: suicide, murder, or unexplained departure, with Esi calling on myth and detective work to solve the mystery.<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup>\n\n## Setting and social themes\n\nThe film opens in Nzulezo, a village where houses stand on stilts near the banks of Lake Tandane, some two hundred miles from Accra, before shifting to the capital.<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup> The mining work Kojo is drawn into is *galamsey*, a Ghanaian term derived from the phrase \"gather them and sell\" for informal, unregulated, and often illegal small-scale gold mining; the mine in the film is dangerous, likely illegal, and abandoned.<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup>\n\nCritics read the film as carrying social and political weight. Richard Brody, a film critic at *The New Yorker* since 1999 and author of *Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard*, noted its depiction of the economic colonialism of newly arrived Chinese businesses, petty corruption in the local police, corruption at higher levels of law enforcement, and the contrast between the modernizing city and the citizens struggling in its shadows.<sup>[5](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-burial-of-kojo-reviewed-a-boldly-lyrical-portrait-of-a-young-ghanaian-girl)</sup> The *Washington Post* critic Ann Hornaday described it as containing \"myriad truths about an Africa where economic exploitation and colonialism have taken on new forms and accents.\"<sup>[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-burial-of-kojo-is-a-stunning-directorial-debut-for-a-musician-turned-filmmaker/2019/04/09/9d0236ba-56e7-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html)</sup>\n\nA distinctive device is the embedded Spanish-language telenovela *Puebla mi amor*, which Esi watches with her grandmother. Set in Miami but shot by Bazawule in Ghana with expatriate actors, it functions as aspirational television picturing a prosperous life abroad, and it mirrors the film's conflict, making raw passions of guilt, envy, and revenge plain where the brothers' surface behavior stays restrained.<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup>\n\n## Style and production\n\nWorking with cinematographer Michael Fernandez, Bazawule uses slow motion, images saturated in blues and shadow, glowing pink skies, fast and slow motion, digital superimpositions, and reversed footage to render Esi's inner world. He also composed the film's score, drawing on Afropop and more classical sounds.<sup>[5](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-burial-of-kojo-reviewed-a-boldly-lyrical-portrait-of-a-young-ghanaian-girl)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-burial-of-kojo-is-a-stunning-directorial-debut-for-a-musician-turned-filmmaker/2019/04/09/9d0236ba-56e7-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html)</sup> The project originated from a newspaper article and was funded largely through a successful Kickstarter campaign.<sup>[1](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup>\n\nBazawule, born in Accra, Ghana and based in the United States, had previously made the short films *Native Sun* (2012) and *Diasporadical Trilogìa* (2016) and released three studio albums as Blitz the [Ambassador](https://www.edgepedia.org/ambassador); he is a 2016 TED Fellow and a recipient of the Vilcek Prize.<sup>[1](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup> The film was produced by Ama K. Abebrese, Bazawule, and Terence Nance.<sup>[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/afa32e98-2e73-5076-99f2-20153b92fd1d/the-burial-of-kojo)</sup>\n\n## Release and reception\n\nARRAY, [Ava DuVernay](https://www.edgepedia.org/ava-duvernay)'s distribution company, released the film, and Netflix picked it up for select territories; it premiered on the service on March 31, 2019, and remained available in the United States until April 2022.<sup>[5](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-burial-of-kojo-reviewed-a-boldly-lyrical-portrait-of-a-young-ghanaian-girl)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-burial-of-kojo)</sup> It was a 2019 Pan African Film Festival Official Selection and won Best Narrative Feature (World Cinema) at the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival in New York, followed by the Grand Nile Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2019 Luxor African Film Festival.<sup>[1](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup>\n\nReviewers praised its visual ambition. Hornaday called it \"a visionary fable drenched with vibrancy and lyricism\" and gave it 3.5 of 4 stars;<sup>[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-burial-of-kojo-is-a-stunning-directorial-debut-for-a-musician-turned-filmmaker/2019/04/09/9d0236ba-56e7-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html)</sup> the *African Studies Review* review placed it within contemporary surrealist African filmmaking, noting antecedents in Afrosurrealism as characterized by the critic and poet [Amiri Baraka](https://www.edgepedia.org/amiri-baraka).<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup> Some critics were more reserved: one review found that the film's many elements never quite melded into a coherent whole, though it credited Bazawule's visual sense and willingness to experiment.<sup>[7](https://inreviewonline.com/2019/04/12/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup>\n\nThe film's language is reported differently across sources: the African Film Festival lists Akan and English,<sup>[1](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)</sup> the *African Studies Review* review lists Twi and English,<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)</sup> and the *Washington Post* review lists Fante, Twi, and English with subtitles.<sup>[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-burial-of-kojo-is-a-stunning-directorial-debut-for-a-musician-turned-filmmaker/2019/04/09/9d0236ba-56e7-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Burial of Kojo, African Film Festival, Inc.](https://africanfilmny.org/films/the-burial-of-kojo/)\n2. [The Burial of Kojo, AMDB.tv](https://amdb.tv/movie/the-burial-of-kojo/)\n3. [The Burial of Kojo streaming: where to watch online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-burial-of-kojo)\n4. [Samuel Bazawule, director. The Burial of Kojo. 2018, African Studies Review (Cambridge University Press)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/samuel-bazawule-director-the-burial-of-kojo-2018-80-minutes-twi-and-english-ghana-array-releasing-and-netflix-no-price-reported/F0C7467C67D5B134325F7DCE627048BC)\n5. [\"The Burial of Kojo,\" Reviewed: A Boldly Lyrical Portrait of a Young Ghanaian Girl, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-burial-of-kojo-reviewed-a-boldly-lyrical-portrait-of-a-young-ghanaian-girl)\n6. [The Burial of Kojo (2018), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_burial_of_kojo)\n7. [The Burial of Kojo | Sam Blitz Bazawule, In Review Online](https://inreviewonline.com/2019/04/12/the-burial-of-kojo/)\n8. ['The Burial of Kojo' is a stunning directorial debut for a musician turned filmmaker, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-burial-of-kojo-is-a-stunning-directorial-debut-for-a-musician-turned-filmmaker/2019/04/09/9d0236ba-56e7-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html)\n9. [The Burial of Kojo (2018), BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/afa32e98-2e73-5076-99f2-20153b92fd1d/the-burial-of-kojo)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2015 to 2019 › Drama films 2017 and 2018*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
 "same_as": [],
 "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo",
 "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo.md",
 "license": {
  "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0",
  "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license",
  "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.",
  "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0"
 },
 "credit": "\"The Burial of Kojo\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
 "credit_md": "\"[The Burial of Kojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).",
 "credit_html": "\"<a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo\">The Burial of Kojo</a>\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo\">https://www.edgepedia.org/the-burial-of-kojo</a>. <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\">Edgepedia Community License 1.0</a>.",
 "speakable": "The Burial of Kojo is Blitz Bazawule's 2018 Ghanaian magical-realist debut feature about Esi, her father Kojo, and uncle Kwabena; ARRAY-distributed, Netflix-released March 2019, Urbanworld and Luxor award winner."
}