Cruel Summer | |
Director: | Kanye West Alexandre Moors[1] |
Story: | Kanye West Elon Rutberg Alexandre Moors |
Starring: | Dalal Al Mansour |
Music: | Kanye West[2] |
Distributor: | DONDA Island Def Jam Doha Film Institute |
Runtime: | 35 minutes[3] |
Cruel Summer is a short film written and directed by American rapper Kanye West that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012,[4] [5] and was shown out of competition.[6]
A custom pyramid-shaped screening pavilion was constructed for the film's debut, designed by conceptual firms DONDA, OMA and 2x4. The theater featured seven screens – three in the front, one on the floor, one on the ceiling and one on both the right and left side of the space. Cruel Summer was shot using a specialized camera rig, which allowed the directors to capture multiple angles simultaneously. This style of filming and screening a movie has since become known as the "Seven Screen Experience".[7]
The film is inspired by the album of the same name by West's record label GOOD Music.[8] It has been described as a "fusion of short film and art", with the Los Angeles Times raving Cruel Summer has a "thumping surround-sound quality that makes a 3-D Michael Bay effort feel like an iPad short."[9]
Rafi (Scott Mescudi), a high-end car thief, falls in love with a blind Arabian princess whose father (Ali Suliman) will only allow them to wed if he can pass a series of three challenges. Loosely based on old Arabian folk tales, the story culminates in a final challenge where Rafi must cure the Princess of her blindness in order to gain her companionship.[10]
Emissaries of West's team, Executive Producer Alex Rosenberg and writer Elon Rutberg, traveled to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, Qatar in January 2012 to commence initial pre-production. They met with heads of state and prominent government officials, royalty, and private executives in each location to secure funding and shooting permits.[11]
It later emerged that Cruel Summer would be exclusively shot in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.[12] The project was produced in association with the Doha Film Institute, a cultural and film financing organization chaired by Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, a member of Qatar's royal family and sister of the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Sarah A., a first time Qatari actress played the female lead in Cruel Summer. Never before has a Qatari woman starred in a movie in the country's history.
Production of the film took place in mid-April, just one month before the movie's premiere during Cannes Film Festival. Post-production and editing subsequently occurred in New York City.
West described the seven-screen project as an attempt to "change entertainment experiences. Like if McQueen or Tarsem was to meet the entertainment value of Cirque du Soleil or Walt Disney."[12]
Cruel Summer received positive reviews.[13] The Hollywood Reporter called the film "groundbreaking" and exclaimed "It turns out Kanye West didn't just want to make a short film -- he wants to completely change the way movies are watched."[14] The Los Angeles Times wrote the film has "new music from West and a thumping surround-sound quality that makes a 3-D Michael Bay effort feel like an iPad short. "Cruel Summer" was shot with multiple cameras, with each screen offering a different perspective on the action."[9] Rolling Stone commented the piece has "plenty of striking imagery" and praised West's "great visual sense".[13]