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Abacus Media Rights has pre-sold the documentary feature We Need to Talk About Kanye to several territories ahead of the film’s release. The upcoming documentary, ordered by the BBC in February, will explore the life and career of Kanye West, also known as Ye. The investigative journalist Mobeen Azhar will lead the documentary, which will air on BBC Two in the UK later this year.
What to Expect from the Documentary
We Need to Talk About Kanye will delve into Ye’s journey to becoming one of the most successful and famous artists of his generation, including his controversial campaign to run as a candidate in the 2024 US presidential election. The documentary will also address his recent behavior, which has sparked outrage and led to a re-evaluation of his place in popular culture.
Mobeen Azhar, a British journalist and filmmaker, will front the documentary, which was produced by leading indie Forest for BBC Music. Azhar is a founding partner at Forest and has been responsible for many award-winning documentary films and series, including the critically acclaimed film “The Battle for Britney,” which examined Britney Spears’ conservatorship.
High-Profile Broadcasters and Platforms Acquiring the Film
We Need to Talk About Kanye has already been acquired by a number of high-profile broadcasters and platforms. Foxtel in Australia, NPO in the Netherlands, TV4 in Sweden and Finland, NRK in Norway, TV2 in Denmark, and VRT in Flemish Belgium are among those who have pre-sold the documentary.
Jeremy Lee, the producer of the documentary, spoke to Variety ahead of MipTV, the TV market and conference that kicked off in Cannes on Monday. The executive producers of the documentary are Catey Sexton and Jez Lee, while the producer is Laura Kaye, with Stefan Mattison as the producer/director.
The Controversial Rapper’s Third Documentary in a Year
We Need to Talk About Kanye marks the third documentary about the controversial rapper in the last year alone. In February 2022, Netflix released the three-part docuseries, jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. Later that year, Ye himself released his own 30-minute documentary, which failed to address his recent scandals and instead provided a somewhat chaotic look into his life.
Commenting on the documentary, Jonathan Ford, managing director at Abacus Media Rights, said, “We all know Kanye as a complex global celebrity and musician, here Mobeen digs further inside his complicated psyche and reveals why he is a fascinating figure – both loved and loathed in equal measure.”
