Cruel Summer (film)

Cruel Summer
Promotional poster
Directed byKanye West
Alexandre Moors[1]
Written byKanye West
Elon Rutberg[1]
Story byKanye West
Elon Rutberg[1]
Alexandre Moors[1]
Produced by
  • Jonathan Lia
  • Alex Rosenberg
    (Executive Producer)
  • Amanda Palmer
    (Executive Producer)
Starring
Dalal Al Mansour
Music byKanye West[2]
Distributed byDONDA
Island Def Jam
Doha Film Institute
Running time
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]

  1. ^ a b c d West, Kanye. "Kanye West's Custom-Built 'Cruel Summer' Cinema: Take A Look Inside!". MTV. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012.
  2. ^ "Big Sean 'Can't Wait' To See Kanye's 'Cruel Summer' At Cannes". mtv.com. MTV. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012.
  3. ^ Daw, Robbie (May 18, 2012). "Kanye West Releasing Compilation, Film 'Cruel Summer'". Idolator. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Gil (May 18, 2012). "Kanye West To Debut 'Cruel Summer' Short Film At Cannes". mtv.com. MTV. Archived from the original on May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  5. ^ Hogan, Marc (May 18, 2012). "Kanye West's 'Cruel Summer' Album/Film: 5 Safe Assumptions". Spin. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  6. ^ "Kanye West 'Cruel Summer': Rapper To Debut Short Film At Cannes Festival". Huffington Post. May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  7. ^ "Pics: Kanye West's Seven-Screen Custom-Built Cinema In Cannes". Complex. May 29, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  8. ^ "Kanye Announces Cruel Summer Film & Album". Rap Radar. May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  9. ^ "Cannes 2012: Kanye West, auteur?". Los Angeles Times. May 24, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.