Cannes 2012: Kanye West debuts film, parties with Kim Kardashian

CANNES, France -- For years, Hollywood actors would get under the skin of musicians by cutting an album between movie shoots. Now Kanye West is returning he favor.

The hip-hop superstar has directed an approximately 30-minute film, "Cruel Summer," which stars fellow rapper Kid Cudi and the Lebanese actress Razane Jammal (with a bit part by West) and unfolds over seven screens in a specially designed pop-up theater. It took West about three months to develop and shoot the movie, which he did in Qatar earlier this year.

On Wednesday night at a swanky party at the Cannes Film festival, the rapper debuted the movie, which plays somewhere between a narrative featurette and an extended music video. (Or, as the media notes have it, "a seven-screen experience installation combining the world of art, architecture and cinema.")

Cudi stars as a thief of high-end sports cars who falls in love with a blind Arabic princess. But the princess' father won't allow the pair to marry unless the thief can help her see, so the hero must find a way to make it happen (metaphorically).

The story is secondary to the pyrotechnics, with new music from West and a thumping surround-sound quality that makes a 3-D Michael Bay effort feel like an iPad short. "Cruel Summer" was shot with multiple cameras, with each screen offering a different perspective on the action. "I can dream one day that will be the way ... people will watch movies, West told the audience after the screening.

After a few days of screenings here, West plan! s on tak ing the movie to cities around the world, including Doha, Qatar, where it will play the film festival in November. (The Doha Film Institute co-produced "Cruel Summer.")

After the Cannes screening, West, girlfriend Kim Kardashian and fellow rapper Jay-Z mingled at the party, as West could be heard saying that he didn't want to go with just one screen when he could go seven.

The premiere marked a return to Cannes for West, who last year gave a memorable performance at a party for financier Red Granite. ("Entourage" enthusiasts will also recall that West appeared on the show to give Vince and the boys a ride to Cannes on his private jet.)

Given his new short -- and his frequenting of Cannes -- does West want to make his mark in the film world beyond cameos and soundtrack appearances? Asked by 24 Frames if he wants to be a director, West smiled and replied, "I don't answer questions." So he's basically halfway there.

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-- Steven Zeitchiktwitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

Photo: Kanye West with girlfriend Kim Kardashian at the Cannes premiere of "Cruel Summer." Credit: ! Francois Mori / Associated Press