A film. A new score. Performed live.

During the 2026 edition of Black Soil Film Festival, The Burial of Kojo (2018), the feature film debut of Ghanaian filmmaker and musician Blitz Bazawule, will be reimagined through an entirely new live musical score.

Created especially for this screening, the score is led by Ghanaian trumpeter and composer Peter Somuah, featuring vocalists Latanya Alberto and MiDi KwaKwa.

The Film

The Burial of Kojo follows Esi, a young girl searching for her father after he mysteriously disappears during a gold-mining expedition. Blending family drama, memory, dreams and spirituality, Bazawule creates a visually striking work of magical realism, deeply rooted in the landscapes, cultural traditions and storytelling of Ghana.

Through its poetic imagery and layered narrative, the film explores family, loss, guilt and the complex relationship between the physical and spiritual worlds.

A New Musical Interpretation

For this special Live Cinema Re-Score, the film becomes the starting point for a new musical interpretation.

Jazz, soul, gospel, highlife and West African rhythms come together in a live score that responds directly to the unfolding images and emotions on screen. Rather than serving as conventional accompaniment, the music enters into a dialogue with the film, revealing new emotional and spiritual dimensions within its story.

The distinct musical backgrounds and artistic perspectives of the three performers are central to this approach. Drawing on connections between Ghana, the Netherlands and the wider African diaspora, they create a musical landscape where tradition, improvisation and contemporary expression meet.

The result is a unique audiovisual experience in which cinema and live performance become inseparable.

The Artists

Peter Somuah — Musical Direction, Trumpet & Composition

Ghanaian trumpeter and composer Peter Somuah is based in Rotterdam. Rooted in the musical traditions of Accra and driven by a deep passion for jazz, his work brings together highlife, West African rhythms, contemporary jazz and improvisation.

Moving fluidly between musical traditions, Somuah approaches heritage not as something fixed, but as a foundation for new creative possibilities.

For The Burial of Kojo, he takes the artistic lead in developing the new live score, bringing his Ghanaian musical heritage into direct conversation with the film’s imagery, narrative and spiritual themes.

Latanya Alberto — Vocals

Amsterdam-based singer, songwriter and multidisciplinary artist Latanya Alberto has Surinamese and Curaçaoan roots. Her music blends neo-soul with influences from jazz, R&B, reggae and electronic music, with poetry and storytelling at the heart of her artistic expression.

Her work explores identity, vulnerability, female empowerment and social justice, combining personal reflection with broader cultural perspectives.

Alberto has performed at festivals including North Sea Jazz and Lowlands, recorded a COLORS session and collaborated with the Metropole Orkest.

For The Burial of Kojo, her warm, layered vocals and poetic sensibility bring an intimate and expressive dimension to Peter Somuah’s musical interpretation.

MiDi KwaKwa — Vocals

MiDi KwaKwa is a Ghanaian-German vocalist and songwriter who grew up in Germany and is now based in the Netherlands.

Her sound moves between alternative R&B, neo-soul and Afro-influenced music, incorporating elements of reggae, rock and electronic production. Her Ghanaian heritage plays an important role in both her musical identity and visual expression.

In 2025, she released her debut EP MOONFLOWER, a deeply personal project exploring emotion, identity and musical storytelling.

Within the live score of The Burial of Kojo, KwaKwa’s voice creates a direct connection to Ghana while adding a contemporary, soulful dimension to the film’s emotional and spiritual landscape.

Black Soil Live Cinema

This new live score is developed through a collaboration between Black Soil Film Festival, House of Knowledge and Architects in Music (AIM), bringing together film, musical curation and live performance.

Through its Live Cinema programme, Black Soil explores the creative possibilities that emerge when cinema and live music meet. Each performance offers a unique interpretation of a film, transforming the screening into a one-of-a-kind audiovisual experience.

At the same time, the programme creates space for contemporary artists with roots in the African diaspora, encouraging new artistic encounters between Ghana and the Netherlands, film and music, heritage and contemporary culture.

More than a film screening or a concert, Live Cinema Re-Score: The Burial of Kojo is an exploration of how music can reshape the way we experience stories on screen.

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Black Soil Live Cinema: Re-Score — The Burial of Kojo is a production of Black Soil Film Festival, presented in collaboration with House of Knowledge and Architects in Music (AIM).