Without question, Dee Rees is one of the best filmmakers working today. After the success of her Netflix film “Mudbound,” which earned her an Oscar nomination, she’s also proving herself to be one of the most active directors around. Not letting up the gas at all, Rees is finishing up her “Mudbound” follow-up film, “The Last Thing He Wanted,” and is already developing her newest feature, “The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies,” which sounds like her most ambitious project yet.
According to Deadline, Rees has signed on with her “Mudbound” producer Cassian Elwes to write and direct “The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies,” a musical fantasy film that is set to feature new music from none other than Santigold. ‘Exquisite Follies’ tells the story of a young musician that dreams of big stardom in It City, and goes on a roller coaster journey from her humble roots in her hometown of Same Ol’, Same Ol’ to the bright lights of the big city.
“I was inspired by the AfroPunk and SteamFunk scenes and want to re-imagine the whole Follies genre for today, lift it out of the problematic tropes of the past and invest it with a queer, edgy energy,” Rees said. “My favorite musical as a kid growing up was ‘The Wiz,’ but ironically I generally hated musicals. Which is why I wanted to take this on and write something original —to try and do something unexpected with the form—make a musical for people who hate musicals.”
She continued, “It’s gonna be fun. It’s been an absolute dream being in the studio with Santigold. She’s an artist I’ve admired and wanted to work with for a long time— she’s such a creative producer and has a vast range of styles and references. She’s a genius and the music we’re making is exciting as hell. People are gonna be surprised. I can’t wait.”
As mentioned, the “Mudbound” filmmaker is teaming with singer-songwriter Santigold for this new project. Santigold is probably best known for her songs like “Lights Out,” “Can’t Get Enough of Myself,” “L.E.S. Artistes,” and “Disparate Youth,” among others. While she’s had music appear on many soundtracks, the singer has yet to write songs for a musical such as this.
READ MORE: Dee Rees Talks ‘Mudbound’ And Netflix As A “Place For Auteurs”
“It is such an honor to be working with Dee on this project,” Santigold said. “She has such a fresh and distinct voice and vision, I am continuously blown away by the breadth of her talent. We’ve been having so much fun weaving the soundscape for this beautiful world she’s dreamed up, and are equally keen to leap recklessly between genres, instruments, and vocal styles. It’s a dream collaboration in that sense. Especially because we have a similar approach to our art; we see the whole thing at once. We know that the music is the dance is the costume is the set. Our intrinsic understanding of that fact is our secret handshake.”
No word on when we might see “The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies” arrive in theaters. As we said, Rees is finishing up work on “The Last Thing He Wanted,” starring Anne Hathaway and Ben Affleck. So, obviously, she won’t be ready to begin production on anything else until that’s wrapped.