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Kanye West ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ Documentary Premiere At Sundance Film Festival Derailed By Omicron Outbreak

Screen Shot 2022 01 06 at 9.11.44 AM

Just as all other major events at the top of 2022 such as the Grammys, the Sundance Film Festival will be postponed due to the current Omicron variant outbreak, putting the premiere of Kanye West’s Jeen-Yuhs documentary premiere on hold.

Organizers for the festival announced yesterday(January 5) that the Park City, Utah annual event that was originally set for January 20 will now be postponed due to the rising number of positive COVID-19 cases around the country.

“Despite the most ambitious protocols, the Omicron variant with its unexpectedly high transmissibility rates is pushing the limits of health safety, travel, and other infrastructures across the country. And so, today we’re announcing: the Festival’s in-person Utah elements will be moving online this year,” read the statement from Sundance.

Netflix did confirm the premiere of Kanye’s new the Coodie & Chike-directed documentary, which chronicles the life of the 44-year-old Roc-A-Fella producer to the billionaire Hip Hop mogul he is today. “Shot over 20 years, this documentary trilogy is an intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye West’s experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist,” Netflix said in a statement.

Even though Ye isn’t directly involved in the film’s production, he signed off on the doc, which will be sold for $30 million later this year.

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ICYMI: Kanye West Doc “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” Set To Premiere At Sundance 2022

Kanye West

The Kanye West documentary “jeen-yuhs” will debut at the Sundance Film Festival.

Sundance announced Thursday December 9, that “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” will be part of its 2022 lineup. According to reports, the documentary is said to chronicle Kanye’s formative days trying to break various barriers and his life today as a global brand and artist.

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival is set to be a hybrid event. Online screenings and in-person events in Park City, Utah are scheduled to run from January 20th-through-30th.

Back in September, a teaser trailer of the documentary was released.

The trailer features a quick snippet with Ye and Brooklyn rapper, Mos Def rocking their verses from their collaboration track “Two Words” from 2002. Co-directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, who directed some of Ye’s early videos. jeen-yuhs also hones in on Kanye’s failed run for POTUS and the impact of Kanye’s mother, Donda West untimely death.

See the trailer below.

Share your thoughts with us on social media.

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Kanye West Doc “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” Set To Premiere At Sundance 2022

Kanye West Will Reportedly Serve as Creative Director of Pornhub's Inaugural Award Ceremony

The Kanye West documentary “jeen-yuhs” will debut at the Sundance Film Festival.

Sundance announced Thursday December 9, that “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” will be part of its 2022 lineup. According to reports, the documentary is said to chronicle Kanye’s formative days trying to break various barriers and his life today as a global brand and artist.

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival is set to be a hybrid event. Online screenings and in-person events in Park City, Utah are scheduled to run from January 20th-through-30th.

Back in September, a teaser trailer of the documentary was released.

The trailer features a quick snippet with Ye and Brooklyn rapper, Mos Def rocking their verses from their collaboration track “Two Words” from 2002. Co-directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, who directed some of Ye’s early videos. jeen-yuhs also hones in on Kanye’s failed run for POTUS and the impact of Kanye’s mother, Donda West untimely death.

See the trailer below.

Share your thoughts with us on social media.

The post Kanye West Doc “jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” Set To Premiere At Sundance 2022 appeared first on The Source.

Click Here to Discuss in the Forums

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Russell Simmons #MeToo Documentary Heads to HBO Max Amid Oprah’s Exit

The On the Record documentary about the women who accused Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct, had a home at Apple TV before Oprah Winfrey parted ways with the project. But it secured a home at HBO Max following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Oprah explained that she was motivated to exit because Drew Dixon’s recollection had “inconsistencies” and she felt that “the film had not adequately addressed.”

Dixon is a former Def Jam executive and she is one of the women in the doc that claims Simmons sexually assaulted her. Despite the mogul’s departure, a number of distribution companies like Netflix, Showtime, Amazon, IFC and more attended the premiere at Sundance but no one picked it up.

HBO Max acquired the project with hopes to release it in theaters at a later date. “The fierce determination of Drew Dixon and all of the women who bravely chose to share their stories in On The Record moved us profoundly,” Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max, said. “I’ve been impressed with Amy and Kirby’s work over the years covering this complex subject matter, and look forward to this film finding the widest possible audience.”

Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick thanked the streaming service for giving their work a new home. They said they are “so proud to be teaming with HBO Max to give this film the outstanding platform it deserves and can’t wait for the public to see and hear the voices of these courageous women.”

The post Russell Simmons #MeToo Documentary Heads to HBO Max Amid Oprah’s Exit appeared first on The Source.

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Russell Simmons Accusers Premiere Doc at Sundance Film Festival

Russell Simmons x On The Record still

Source: Sundance Institute / Sundance

Oprah Winfrey may have withdrawn from executive producing the documentary regarding the allegations against former Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons, but the film did debut at the Sundance Film Festival as scheduled to a standing ovation.

On Saturday (Jan. 25) the documentary, On the Record, was premiered but not before causing a stir. According to the New York Times, creators set the tone for the film by placing a truck outside of the venue where the film was screened with a sign that read “Hold Sexual Abusers Accountable.”

After the screening, the film’s central figure, Drew Dixon, along with two other women from the documentary, Sil Lai Abrams and Sherri Hines, went onstage to a standing ovation and took part in a Q&A along with the directors. The audience — which included the Netflix chairman and chief executive Reed Hastings, the CNN chief Jeff Zucker and the actresses Rosanna Arquette and Frances Fisher — was mostly silent during the screening; but after Dixon appeared on stage noting that the film serves as a wake up call to the plight of Black women in regards to sexual assault, the crowd erupted.

“It’s time to take the plunder of black women seriously,” Dixon said.

The documentary follows Dixon as she weighs whether to take her sexual abuse claims public. Dixon, a 48-year-old former music executive, claims that Simmons raped her in 1995 when she was working for him as a young executive. Simmons has denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex.

On the Record” also delves into the place black women have in the #MeToo movement and the racial dimensions of sexual assault by discussing the culture at the time: misogyny in the music business, both in specifics when it came to hip-hop, and in general terms, pointing out that the rap genre didn’t invent the use of degrading images of women in its music videos.

#MeToo founder Tarana Burke is also a frequent voice, adding commentary about black women’s place in the movement, and their feelings of alienation. “Black women feel like they have to support black men,” she said. One audience member noted that the film, despite being about black women accusing a black man of rape, is directed by two white people.

“A lot of this is about power and ecosystems of power,” Dixon said after the screening. “And all of us have kept our stories to ourselves for decades, and there are people within that ecosystem who knew our stories.”

In addition to premiering at Sundance, the documentary also featured new music from Lauryn Hill. “Damnable Heresies” plays in full over the closing credits to the Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering-directed film.

“This previously unreleased track was specifically chosen by Ms. Hill to appear in the film,” a spokesperson for On the Record told EW, noting that Ms. Lauryn Hill also wrote the song.

While producers are still looking for distribution for the film it has been added to the Park City Utah Film festival and is scheduled to be screened there on Tuesday (Jan. 28) and Feb. 1.

Source: HipHopWired.com

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The ‘Zola’ Movie Premiered At Sundance, It Sounds Lit

Zola movie still

Source: Sundance Institute / Sundance

Back in the fall of 2015, an outrageous story by a woman named Zola had Twitter enthralled. The stripper, A’Ziah “Zola” Wells, weaved an Oscar-worthy tale of sex, murder, violence and intrigue, and Backpage, that just had to get optioned into a movie, which it did.

Fast-forward to today and the film, Zola, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie’s synopsis pretty much says it will stick to the script Zola laid out, which is a good thing:

 @zolarmoon tweets “wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out???????? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.” Two girls bond over their “hoeism” and become fast friends. What’s supposed to be a trip from Detroit to Florida turns into a weekend from hell.

At least one reviewer thinks it captured the rawness of the infamous Twitter thread.

Reports the Huff Post:

Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Janicza Bravo’s romp crosses the American South to chronicle a larger-than-life saga about an appropriating white woman (the ever-magnetic Riley Keough) who takes advantage of a Black pistol (Taylour Paige in a star-making turn). Under the guise of an excursion meant to generate cash from fruitful Florida strip clubs, the “bitch” in question brings along her doltish boyfriend (Nicholas Braun) and manipulative pimp (Colman Domingo), sucking Zola into a whirlwind involving sex trafficking, attempted suicide, extortion and murder.

The Twitter thread led to a Rolling Stone report fact-checking Wells’ account, which became the source of Bravo’s script, co-written with acclaimed playwright Jeremy O. Harris. Wells had hyperbolized select details, while others were refuted by her travel companion, who insisted she had never in her life traded sex for money. But Bravo isn’t here to parse fact from fiction. “Most of what follows is true,” a title card cheekily announces at the start. As far as “Zola” is concerned, verifying the veracity of Wells’ perspective is beside the point. The film trusts her voice, right down to the quippy vernacular evidenced on Twitter, which makes the ensuing ride all the more electric. (The movie credits Wells as A’Ziah King, her married name.)

Zola and her alleged white trick b*tch done made it to the silver screen.

What a time. 

Source: HipHopWired.com

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RZA & Ghostface Killah Are Making A Horror Movie Based On Wu’s Real Life Experiences

This week, Wu-Tang Clan is screening its upcoming documentary Of Mics And Men at the Sundance Film Festival. While promoting the four-part Showtime doc, RZA and Ghostface Killah revealed that they have another film endeavor on the horizon, a Suspense Horror feature. RZA (aka Robert Diggs) will direct. Meanwhile, the story comes from none other than Ghostface Killah (aka Dennis Coles). This storyline is rooted in Wu’s real-life upbringing in the project houses of Staten Island. According to Deadline, the two Wu co-founders have teamed with Oscar-nominated producer Shaun Reddick (BlacKkKlansman, Get Out) and his Impossible Dream Entertainment to bring this project to screen. RZA said told the publication, “The creative collaboration of RZA and Ghostface [Killah] has stood the test of time through our music. Now the opportunity to put our creative energies together onto the silver screen has arisen and I’m turbo charged.” Including in a 2014 conversation with Ambrosia For Heads, Ghostface has long compared writing Rap songs and arranging albums to movie-making. Wu-Tang Clan’s Documentary Trailer Shows 9 MCs’ Triumph Through Life With Mics Ghost’ worked on the story with longtime manager Mike Caruso. Matt Leslie and Stephen J. Smith have taken that story to script. Meanwhile, as RZA scores the film, G.F.K. and Caruso are at the helm for a soundtrack of all new music from Wu-Tang Clan and presumably, some of the group’s affiliates. Deadline‘s Mike Fleming, Jr. details the premise as follows: “‘Casey’ is a normal yet exceptionally smart teenager and talented rapper but after the mysterious death of his parents he’s been forced to grow up in New York’s roughest inner-city streets (known as ‘Shaolin’ in Wu-Tang folklore), basically on his own. As life in the hood around him gets tragically worse, he must put his skills to the test to survive not only the gangs, corrupt cops, junkies and bullies, but a serial killer with seemingly supernatural powers dubbed ‘Angel Of Dust’ by the media.” Ghostface Killah Releases His First Song Of The Year & He’s Shining For the last 20 years, RZA has moved into Hollywood while maintaining his music career. The Abbott has been acting in film since 1999’s Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai. He made his directorial debut with 2012’s The Man With The Iron Fists. RZA followed with 2017’s Love Beats Rhymes. He is also producing Thriller, which debuted on the festival circuit last year. Meanwhile, Ghost’ has appeared in handfuls of movies and TV shows, typically playing himself. Next month (February 15), Ghostface will team fellow Clansmen Inspectah Deck (along with his CZARFACE collective) to release Czarface Meets Ghostface. Late last year, they dropped the “Iron Claw” single. Additionally, Wu has a 10-part documentary that is expected to arrive on Hulu later this year. Method Man Recites The First Rap He Ever Wrote (Video) #BonusBeat: Last week, Ghostface Killah re-vamped Wu-Tang Clan’s classic, “C.R.E.A.M.” with singer, Nicole Buss:

Source: AmbrosiaForHeads.com

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‘Leaving Neverland’ Doc Examines Claims By 2 Alleged Sexual Abuse Victims Of Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson Live On Stage

Source: Dave Hogan / Getty

The late Michael Jackson spent a portion of his career being dogged by allegations of sexual abuse against minor children, and a new documentary examines the case of two men who claim to be victims. Leaving Neverland will make its debut at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

From Sundance.org:

As one of the world’s most celebrated icons, Michael Jackson represents many things to many people—a pop star, a humanitarian, a beloved idol. When allegations of sexual abuse by Jackson involving young boys surfaced in 1993, many found it hard to believe that the King of Pop could be guilty of such unspeakable acts. In separate but parallel stories that echo one another, two boys were each befriended by Jackson, who invited them into his singular and wondrous world. Seduced by the singer’s fairy-tale existence and enthralled by their relationship with him, both boys’ families were blind to the manipulation and abuse that he would ultimately subject them to.

Through gut-wrenching interviews with the now-adult men and their families, Leaving Neverland crafts a portrait of sustained exploitation and deception, documenting the power of celebrity that allowed a revered figure to infiltrate the lives of starstruck children and their parents.

The documentary will debut in the Special Events category.

The Sundance Film Festival kicks off on Jan. 24 in Utah.

Photo: Getty

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