Gorillaz Documentary Debuts, Monkey Comes to U.S.

Gorillaz Documentary Debuts, Monkey Comes to U.S.

Although there's been no hint of a new Gorillaz album any time soon, the band/art project/cartoon collective centered around the music of Damon Albarn and the graphics of Jamie Hewlett has plenty of stuff going on.

The behind-the-scenes documentary Bananaz, directed by Ceri Levy, will premiere at the 58th annual Berlin Film Festival this week. The unveiling begins with industry-only showings of the doc today and tomorrow; public screenings run February 9 and 13-15. Bananaz will also screen in America as part of the SXSW Film Festival, taking place March 7-15 in Austin, TX.

But Berliners will have to trade one Gorillaz experience for another, as the summer run of performances of Monkey: Journey to the West, their spin-off "circus opera," has been cancelled. The production will be coming to the USA, however. It will be performed at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina on May 22-26 and 28-31, and June 1, 3, 5-8.

If you're in London, you can get a taste of Monkey this Saturday, February 9, at the British Museum. As part of their Chinese New Year celebration, the museum will present "Monkey Suite", which is "chamber music and visual excerpts" from the opera.

Hewlett also has another project in the works: "Phoo Action", a kung fu action comedy he's developing for the BBC, according to NME. Carl Weathers is in it! It airs February 12 on BBC3.

Posted by Dave Maher and Amy Phillips on Thu, Feb 7, 2008 at 11:40am