Ahead of its publication scheduled for later this year, the highly sensational debut novel The Scent of Burnt Flowers by the hip hop artist, filmmaker and artist Blitz Bazawule will be adapted for TV.
Emmy Award-winning author Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is set to star and executive-produce the series. Abdul-Mateen will play Kwesi, the charismatic Ghanaian musician whom Melvin and Bernadette lean on for protection of their freedom. Some of Abdul-Mateen’s successful features include The Trial of Chicago 7, Watchmen, and Matrix 4.
Set in the 1960s, The Scent of Burnt Flowers follows a young couple fleeing America at the peak of the Civil Rights movement to Ghana where it is hoped that Nkrumah will grant them political asylum. The novel was acquired by Ballantine Books just last year with a scheduled publication date for summer 2022.
According to Variety, the limited six-episode series adaptation is being developed by Macro Television Studios. Bazawule will also serve as writer, director and executive producer under his newly formed production company Inward Gaze. Bazawule is known for this directorial work in Beyonce’s Black is King and magical realist film The Burial of Kodjo.
Others names attached to the project at this stage include Charles D. King, Marta Fernandez, and Ahmadou Seck who will executive produce for Macro Television Studios along with Gabriel Mena and Natalia Williams of M88 (Abdul-Mateen’s representatives).
Congratulations to Blitz Bazawule!
COMMENTS -
Reader Interactions