Cruel Summer (2012)

Cruel Summer is a short film by American musician Kanye West. It premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival on May 23, 2012, and was shown out of competition.

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, the concept was inspired by Burberry's immersive Beijing show in 2011, the previous year, which featured eight screens, three in the front and back, one on both left and right and one on the ceiling. 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".

The film is inspired by the album of the same name by West's record label GOOD Music. It has been described as a "fusion of short film and art", with the LA Times raving Cruel Summer has a "thumping surround-sound quality that makes a 3-D Michael Bay effort feel like an iPad short.

Synopsis

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.

Acteurs