This month The Bioscope brings back The Burial of Kojo, the feature film directorial debut of Ghanaian musician and filmmaker Samuel “Blitz” Bazawule, which premiered at the cinema last year.

The Burial of Kojo tells the intimate story of one Ghanaian family's experience with loss and guilt, rivalry and revenge, while weaving between broader contemporary African themes of neo-colonialism, spirituality, and environmental and human exploitation. Visually, the film is a nod to the African storytelling tradition of magical realism, with fantastical scenes that defy and subvert standard constructs of reality.

Leveraging his success as an international hip-hop artist, Bazawule financed the production of The Burial of Kojo himself and with local crowdfunding; a rarity for African filmmaking that is typically reliant on the backing of European film production companies. According to Bazawule, The Burial of Kojo is the first local feature film to be produced entirely in Ghana, by Ghanaians and is a triumph of independent, self-reliant African filmmaking and storytelling.