Black Is King, A Film By Beyoncé

Black Is King is a 2020 American musical film co-written, executive produced, and directed by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.
It is a visual companion to the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift, curated by Beyoncé for the film The Lion King (2019).

The film tells the story of a young African prince (Folajomi Akinmurele) who is exiled from his kingdom after his father’s death.
As he grows into a man (Nyaniso Dzedze), he undergoes a journey of self-identity, using the guidance of his ancestor (Beyoncé), childhood love (Nandi Madida), and his own subconscious (Stephen Ojo) to reclaim his throne.

The film explores themes such as Afrofuturism and Black pride and the prince’s journey acts as an allegory for the African diaspora’s journey of discovering, reclaiming and celebrating their culture and heritage, which is echoed by the inclusion of spoken-word poetry that focuses on the question of black identity.

The film was released globally on Disney+ on July 31, 2020, and was aired the following day across Sub-Saharan Africa on M-Net and Canal+ Afrique and across the Middle East and North Africa on OSN.