The Atlanta Film Festival, along with Audacy, celebrated one of the most influential men in music and film history, RZA. His new movie, 'One Spoon of Chocolate,' was featured at this year’s 50th Atlanta Film Festival, and RZA also accepted the ATLFF's “Originator Award” at the screening, in recognition of his boundary-pushing career across music, film, and culture.
The “Originator Award” honors someone who is a true one-of-a-kind talent, creating new ways of seeing and experiencing art. Originators are often imitated, never duplicated, and always responsible for setting new industry standards. Previous recipients include Joe Berlinger ('Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile'), Spike Lee ('Do the Right Thing,' 'Malcolm X'), and George R.R. Martin ('Game of Thrones').
RZA tells Romeo International at the event that he first fell in love with film the first time he was in the theater. “The first film I ever saw was ‘Huckleberry Finn,’” he shares. “Well, it was my first time to the movie theaters, you know what I mean. My older cousin took me and it was like a day to remember.”
“Then my second film probably was ‘Star Wars.’ And my uncle took me to that and, fell in love. So cinema has always been a love. You know, back in those days, you couldn't go that often. Maybe you're go on Easter Sunday, you know what I mean. So, but eventually as I became a teenager, I just fell in love and just went crazy for film.”
RZA is widely recognized as the architect behind the 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Wu-Tang Clan — and stands among Hip-Hop's most celebrated and influential producers. After a six-year tutelage under Quentin Tarantino, RZA transitioned into film, making his directorial debut with 2012's 'The Man with Iron Fists,' followed by 'Love Beats Rhymes' (2017) and 'Cut Throat City' (2020). After writing, producing, and directing on the Emmy-nominated Hulu series, 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga,' he returns with his most recent and ambitious project, RZA's 'One Spoon of Chocolate.'
