--- name: "Blitz the Ambassador" canonical: "https://film.one/person/blitz-bazawule" fi1m_id: "blitz-bazawule" imdb_id: "nm7577540" tmdb_id: 1507725 wikidata_id: "Q4926959" roles: ["Director"] born: "19 April 1982" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "director" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-10-03T03:22:23.208937+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Blitz the Ambassador ## Identity Blitz the Ambassador - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/blitz-bazawule - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** blitz-bazawule - **IMDb ID:** nm7577540 - **TMDB ID:** 1507725 - **Wikidata ID:** Q4926959 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_the_Ambassador, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4926959, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7577540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1507725 Director. Born 19 April 1982 in Accra, Ghana. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 19 April 1982, Accra, Ghana - **Also known as:** Blitz Bazawule, Sam Blitz Bazawule, Samuel Bazawule - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_the_Ambassador, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4926959, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7577540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1507725 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*The Color Purple*](https://film.one/film/the-color-purple-2023.md) (73) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Blitz the Ambassador > Blitz the Ambassador uses music, colour and fantasy to show what characters cannot say aloud. We admire his confidence in song, though *The Color Purple* shows how his eagerness to offer pleasure can hurry us past the pain. When Celie sings in *The Color Purple* (2023), feelings left unspoken in the dialogue become audible. Blitz the Ambassador trusts a musical performance to tell us something about a person, and that trust is the strongest reason to watch his work. His use of fantasy also gives Celie an imaginative life beyond the abuse she suffers. We were moved by Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks, whose singing gives the hurt a weight the hurried storytelling sometimes denies it. The songs are where this uneven film takes her feelings most seriously. His route from hip-hop and music videos to features helps explain why songs belong inside the drama for him. On his debut, *The Burial of Kojo* (2018), shot in Ghana with local cast and crew, he took on writing, composing and editing as well as directing. Co-directing Beyoncé’s *Black Is King* (2020) came before *The Color Purple*, his first major studio feature. Those are different kinds of production, but his recurring use of vivid colour and fantasy keeps attention on what characters can imagine when their circumstances are hard. The musical background matters here because he treats sound as something that can tell the story alongside the images. The limitation is clearest in *The Color Purple* when the film moves from hurt to celebration before the hurt has had time to register. Composer Kris Bowers adds to the emotional swell, but the extra push towards uplift can feel unnecessary when Barrino and Brooks have already made us listen. We do not want Blitz to strip the pleasure out of this material; the decision to let Celie sing and imagine is worth defending. We do want more patience between those changes of mood, and more confidence that a voice can move us without further encouragement. See it for the singers, and be prepared for the storytelling to hurry them along. ## Biography Blitz Bazawule, also known as Blitz the Ambassador or Samuel Bazawule, is a Ghanaian filmmaker, musician and visual artist. Born in Accra in 1982, he studied business administration at Kent State University in the United States after beginning his career as a rapper and releasing four studio albums under the name Blitz the Ambassador. He made his feature directorial debut with *The Burial of Kojo* (2018), which he wrote, directed and scored; the film was released on Netflix via Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY. He co-directed Beyoncé’s *Black Is King* (2020) and directed the musical adaptation *The Color Purple* (2023). Bazawule is a TED Fellow and recipient of the Vilcek Prize. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, screendaily.com, nytimes.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *The Color Purple* (2023), Fi1m 73, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-color-purple-2023.md) ## Complete filmography (5) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Color Purple* (2023), Executive Music Producer, Director — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/the-color-purple-2023.md) - *Black Is King* (2020), Director - *The Burial of Kojo* (2018), Director, Producer, Writer, Editor, Casting, Music - *Diasporadical Trilogia* (2016), Executive Producer, Writer, Music, Director - *Native Sun* (2011), The Photographer (as Blitz the Ambassador), Director, Producer, Music ## Gallery - ![Blitz Bazawule aka "Blitz the Ambassador" (2019)](https://film.one/media/person/4647737/gallery-4708b73c1dee.jpg) Blitz Bazawule aka "Blitz the Ambassador" (2019) — Willhwhitney, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Blitz_The_Ambassador_-_OneRPM_Studios_1.jpg/1280px-Blitz_The_Ambassador_-_OneRPM_Studios_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Blitz the Ambassador - PopTech 2011 - Camden Maine USA](https://film.one/media/person/4647737/gallery-ee0ca953411b.jpg) Blitz the Ambassador - PopTech 2011 - Camden Maine USA — PopTech, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Blitz_the_Ambassador.jpg/1280px-Blitz_the_Ambassador.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Blitz the Ambassador](https://film.one/media/person/4647737/gallery-090f9a00bdc3.jpg) Blitz the Ambassador — Coup d'Oreille, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Blitz_the_Ambassador_in_Paris_2014.jpg/1280px-Blitz_the_Ambassador_in_Paris_2014.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Blitz the Ambassador, le 19 mars 2014, Paris](https://film.one/media/person/4647737/gallery-57aeb0d60944.jpg) Blitz the Ambassador, le 19 mars 2014, Paris — Coup d'Oreille, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Blitz_the_Ambassador_in_Paris_2014_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Blitz_the_Ambassador_in_Paris_2014_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Other awards — 2 won - Guggenheim Fellowship 2020: Guggenheim Fellowship (won) - Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise 2013: Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/blitz-bazawule