Ghanaian movie director and rapper, Blitz Bazawule, also known as Blitz the Ambassador, is billed to direct an upcoming Warner Bros. movie titled The Black Samurai.
The acclaimed filmmaker, known for his work on Beyoncé’s Black Is King and the 2023 musical adaptation of The Color Purple, is bringing a famous historical story about the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black Samurai to cinemas.
Screenplay writer Bazawule will direct and produce under his label, Inward Gaze. It is said to be inspired by 300 and Mad Max movies rather than following the path of a conventional biopic. For the screenplay of The Black Samurai, Warner Bros. prevailed over other studios and streaming services.
Despite sparse historical records, Yasuke’s popularity in fiction peaked with the 2021 Netflix anime series by the same name featuring Lakeith Stanfield. A live-action film project with Chadwick Boseman remains unfinished due to his death.
The announcement of Bazawule’s most recent endeavour comes after his memorable performance at the 55th NAACP Image Awards last month. His Warner Bros. film, The Color Purple, won seven prizes in the field of motion pictures, including Outstanding Motion Picture. Bazawule himself took up the Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture) honour.
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The film adds to Blitz the Ambassador’s resume, which includes his 2018 debut The Burial Of Kojo, episodes of Ava DuVernay’s Cherish the Day, Beyoncé’s 2020 visual album Black Is King, and 2023’s acclaimed The Color Purple musical.
During Japan’s Sengoku era, Yasuke was an African warrior working for Nobunaga, a strong feudal ruler dubbed the ‘Great Unifier’. Although nothing is known about Yasuke’s early years, it is probable that he was a child slave and victim of human trafficking.
As a musician, Blitz Bazawule has released multiple EPs and four full-length albums, including Stereotype (2009), Native Sun (2011), Afropolitan Dreams (2014) and Diasporadical (2016).
In 2022, he published his debut novel The Scent of Burnt Flowers under Random House imprint of Ballantine Books. The work follows a black couple fleeing persecution in 1960s America and seeking asylum in Ghana after murdering someone in self-defence.
