Candid Kanye film premieres at Sundance amid editing row

Kanye West performs in September 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Kanye West performs in September 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada

A new Kanye West documentary featuring candid moments from his early life premiered at the Sundance film festival Sunday, just days after the rapper demanded that Netflix allow him to re-edit the final cut.

The first part of "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy" streamed at Sundance -- taking place online due to the pandemic -- and focuses on his initial frustrated efforts to transition from hotshot young producer to rapper.

In an Instagram post Friday, West -- now known as Ye -- wrote that he "must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix," where it launches February 16.

Netflix did not respond to AFP request for comment on West's demand.

The project began with filmmaker Clarence "Coodie" Simmons, who started following his friend West with a camera in Chicago in 2001, curious to see how far the ambitious young rap producer could go.

In a virtual panel following the screening, Simmons said West had "let us do our thing," but that he had also tried to reassure the musician about the final film.

- 'Narcissistic' -

The first feature-length episode recounts Simmons' first meeting with West at a Chicago party in 1998, and his decision to document West's career after the then-producer lands a breakthrough contribution on Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"

"You gonna hold that against me because I never killed nobody?" he asks a music journalist as he drives around New York at night.

While brimming with his trademark self-confidence, a young West also says that he finds making the documentary "a little narcissistic."

"In 2006 we was offered a deal to do it and Kanye wasn't ready," said Simmons. 

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Originally published as Candid Kanye film premieres at Sundance amid editing row