Milli Vanilli to be recontextualized in forthcoming documentary
The documentary about the lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli will debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10.
Milli Vanilli is one of the most infamous stories in music history. A new documentary, premiering at Tribeca Film Festival on June 10, will flesh out their story fully.
The story of Milli Vanilli is a cultural touchstone. The duo, consisting of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, came from Germany to America and sold six million copies of their album “Girl You Know It’s True” without having sung any of the songs. They became the subject of ridicule and shame. Once the truth came out, Morvan and Pilatus had to return their Best New Artist Grammy, and they have been the butt of jokes ever since.
Filmmaker Luke Korem plans to shed some light on the whole picture. He told Variety that he was always “fascinated” by Milli Vanilli’s story.
“I felt the story had been reduced in popular culture to a headline, so I started digging through the various layers, especially the human aspect,” Korem told Variety. “I wanted to tell a very personal story, not only of Rob and Fab, but everyone involved in Milli Vanilli and how it impacted their lives.”
Korem is using the documentary to humanize Morvan and Pilatus. Not only will he give everyone involved an opportunity to tell their side of the story, but he wants the film to show that Morvan and Pilatus weren’t the only ones responsible for the dishonest musical campaign that was Milli Vanilli.
“A great many people did things that were wrong,” Korem continued. “Some people in the film admit what they did was wrong — even Fab admitted he and Rob embraced the lie.”
Following the documentary’s world premiere at Tribeca, Paramount+ will stream the film this fall. A Milli Vanilli biopic, “Girl You Know It’s True,” is also in the works, with actors Elan Ben Ali and Tijan Njie portraying Morvan and Pilatus, respectively.
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