Netflix has acquired rights to The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable, a documentary about the American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan and the contested album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. The film, directed by British filmmaker Joanna Natasegara in her feature directorial debut, will be released on Oct. 16.
The documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, follows Tarik Azzougarh, the Dutch-Moroccan rapper and producer known as Cilvaringz. As a teenage Wu-Tang fan in the 1990s, he worked his way into the group’s inner circle, toured with its members, and was mentored by RZA, who also serves as an executive producer and contributor on the film.
Album controversy
Cilvaringz recorded Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a 31-track album of which only one copy was made. In 2015, that copy was auctioned to the highest bidder. The film’s synopsis describes the album’s scarcity as a form of protest and an argument that music still holds intrinsic worth as art in a digital age, calling the result one of the most controversial artifacts of its time and a spark for ongoing conversations about technology, creation and ownership.
The winning bidder was Martin Shkreli, a later convicted entrepreneur who paid $2 million, making it the most expensive musical work ever sold.
Director statement
Natasegara, whose short film The White Helmets won Netflix its first Oscar in 2016, said the project was a five-year effort.
“For the last five years making this film has been a labour of love and discovery for me,” she said. “Initially I was inspired by a teenhood love of Wu-Tang and a story about the secret album ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ too intriguing to miss. In the making I discovered so much more about why Tarik, myself, and so many of us idolise them. They stand for so much that is so needed right now, community, talent, tenacity, innovation and love. I’m so thrilled audiences will get to spend time in this world I’ve loved so much.”
Production credits
The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable is a Netflix Documentary in association with Studio Gebbia, Film4, 36 Cinema and Sony Music Vision. It is an Aluna Entertainment and Violet Films production.
Producers were Abigail Anketell-Jones, Lauren Dark and Vanessa Kirby.
- Executive producers: RZA, Joe Gebbia, Jason Ropell, Abazar Khayami
- Film4 executive producers: David Kimbangi, Farhana Bhula, Ollie Madden
- Bird Street Productions executive producers: Trevor Burgess, Gary Hess, James Costa
Editors were Chloë Lambourne and Chris Dickens.
