Kanye West Debuts Runaway Film In London

This shares the name of the just recently released single "Runaway."

Summary

Kanye West showed his 35-minute Kanye West Runaway film at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts screening room in London on Wednesday, October 6, 2010. He told the audience there that his work was inspired by major projects like Michael Jackson's "Thriller," Prince's Purple Rain, and Pink Floyd's The Wall, saying he "wanted to do a modern version of that." West explained that about "90 percent" of the music in the film would be on his upcoming album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The movie follows West, playing a character named "Griffin," who falls for a phoenix creature (played by model Selita Ebanks) after she crashes on Earth; she faces discrimination and ultimately returns to her world by burning up. Reports noted the Kanye West Runaway film has little dialogue and features abstract scenes, including one with a marching band and a giant Michael Jackson head set to the song "Lights," and another where the title track "Runaway" accompanies West playing piano joined by ballet dancers, similar to his VMA and Saturday Night Live appearances. An opening scene reportedly shows West running while Nicki Minaj provides a voiceover. While some sources mentioned Hype Williams wrote the script, West, along with art director Vanessa Beecroft and producer Jonathan Lia, were credited as writers according to the BBC. In a Q&A session after the screening, West described the film, shot in Prague, as an "overall representation of what I dream," also mentioning inspiration from painters Picasso and Matisse. He spoke about feeling a responsibility after Michael Jackson's death "to bring real culture to pop culture" and stated the Kanye West Runaway film would premiere worldwide soon and be included with the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album.

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Event Date: October 6, 2010