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How ‘Black Is King’ Co-Director Kwasi Fordjour Brought Beyoncé’s African Blockbuster to Life
The creative director, who’s worked with Beyoncé since he was an intern, shares the backstories on her latest visual album
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Kwasi Fordjour has earned Beyoncé’s trust, but he wants yours too. After working his way up from an internship to creative director, the Ghanaian American Houston native is now a visual architect behind Black Is King, one of this year’s most poignant works of cinematic art.
Co-directed, co-written, and executive produced by Beyoncé, Black Is King — released globally to stream on Disney+ in July — is the megastar’s latest effort in reaching beyond the audio medium to influence the larger cultural canon. The film serves as a visual companion to her 2019 release The Lion King: The Gift, a tie-in album attached to Disney’s “live-action CGI” Lion King remake.
In Black Is King, Beyoncé, Fordjour, and a bevy of other creators attempt to navigate a story of boyhood and manhood as told through the Lion King narrative but reinterpreted with Africa and Black America at its center. They present material and…
