Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen, Candyman) is set to star and executive produce “The Scent of Burnt Flowers,” a six-episode geopolitical fugitive thriller series from director Blitz Bazawule. Bazawule will write, direct, and executive produce under his newly formed production company — Inward Gaze.
The series is based on Bazawule’s upcoming first novel of the same name, which will be released in 2022. In competitive bidding wars, Ballantine Books/Penguin Random House won the book publishing rights and Macro Television Studios won the television rights.
The Scent of Burnt Flowers is steeped in the history of Ghana, specifically the 1966 coup of then-president, Kwame Nkrumah. The novel follows an African American couple, who are on the run after one commits a murder in self-defense in the Deep South of the United States. Unaware a coup is underway in Ghana, the couple’s plan for safety is to flee the United States and reunite with their old friend Nkrumah who they believe will grant them asylum. The couple’s chance encounter with Ghana’s most beloved Highlife musician, who’s headed to play for the president, sparks a journey full of suspense, lust, magic and danger as Nkrumah’s regime crumbles around them.
The series, produced by Macro Television Studios and Inward Gaze will be shopped to networks and streaming platforms.
Per Deadline, this is not Bazawule’s first foray into writing–he wrote and directed the award-winning feature film The Burial of Kojo currently streaming on Netflix. He co-directed Beyonce’s Black Is King, which earned him a Grammy nomination in 2020, and was tapped by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, and Scott Sanders to direct Warner Bros. feature adaptation of the Tony-award-winning musical The Color Purple, which is set to go into production in early 2022.
Blitz Bazawule is a Filmmaker and Musician born in Ghana and based in New York. Blitz’s feature directorial debut ‘The Burial Of Kojo’ premiered on Netflix in 2019 via array.
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