Exclusive: A documentary about rapper French Montana has landed at Paramount+.
The French Montana Story: For Khadija will launch on the streaming service on November 19. This comes after it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year.
The doc, directed by Mandon Lovett, tells the unlikely story of the Moroccan born, diamond-selling recording artist as his single mother sacrifices everything to raise her three young sons in the Bronx, after being abandoned by their father and left destitute.
It depicts his family’s immigrant journey, a son’s perseverance in the face of insurmountable obstacles, and a mother’s unwavering faith — all in pursuit of the American dream.
French Montana, otherwise known as Karim Kharbouch, was born and raised in Morocco before immigrating to the U.S. at 13. He made his name in New York through a series of DVDs called Cocaine City before becoming a musician and signing to...
The French Montana Story: For Khadija will launch on the streaming service on November 19. This comes after it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year.
The doc, directed by Mandon Lovett, tells the unlikely story of the Moroccan born, diamond-selling recording artist as his single mother sacrifices everything to raise her three young sons in the Bronx, after being abandoned by their father and left destitute.
It depicts his family’s immigrant journey, a son’s perseverance in the face of insurmountable obstacles, and a mother’s unwavering faith — all in pursuit of the American dream.
French Montana, otherwise known as Karim Kharbouch, was born and raised in Morocco before immigrating to the U.S. at 13. He made his name in New York through a series of DVDs called Cocaine City before becoming a musician and signing to...
- 10/23/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
A classic rags-to-riches story lies at the heart of “For Khadija,” a softball documentary about Moroccan-born rapper French Montana, who was born to a family that immigrated to the United States when he was a child. The film, which portrays its subject as a self-made striving entrepreneur and artist, derives its story from testimonies from friends, colleagues, family and French Montana himself. As in last year’s Tupac series “Dear Mama,” the title serves as a dedication to the rapper’s mother, who raised him and his siblings alone after his father left the family. In this case, the film isn’t about her so much as it is a hagiographic telling of Montana’s rise to fame.
Khadija and assorted relatives recall Montana’s early days in Casablanca, and how the family left for America in the mid-1990s when he was about 13. The recollections are interwoven with old family photos,...
Khadija and assorted relatives recall Montana’s early days in Casablanca, and how the family left for America in the mid-1990s when he was about 13. The recollections are interwoven with old family photos,...
- 6/20/2023
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
French Montana’s new documentary, For Khadija, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 16. It looks back on the rapper’s extraordinary story—from emigrating to the Bronx from Morocco and finding his way into the music industry.
“[The doc] has a lot to do with my music,” French told Rolling Stone, “but it’s mostly an immigrant story about a mother that struggled for 20-something years and didn’t see her family to make sure her kids is good.”
French Montana’s thoughts on immigration
“Immigration affects anybody that doesn’t have an equal opportunity — and haven’t done no crime,” he said. “Criminals that go to jail for murder come home and still have a better opportunity than the immigrant that came from another country with a dream of making this land a better land.”
Immigration is the main theme in French’s documentary. But French hopes people who...
“[The doc] has a lot to do with my music,” French told Rolling Stone, “but it’s mostly an immigrant story about a mother that struggled for 20-something years and didn’t see her family to make sure her kids is good.”
French Montana’s thoughts on immigration
“Immigration affects anybody that doesn’t have an equal opportunity — and haven’t done no crime,” he said. “Criminals that go to jail for murder come home and still have a better opportunity than the immigrant that came from another country with a dream of making this land a better land.”
Immigration is the main theme in French’s documentary. But French hopes people who...
- 6/17/2023
- by Kelsey Goeres
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
“For Khadija” is billed as a documentary about French Montana, but there’s a reason that it’s named not after the hip-hop alter ego of Moroccan expatriate Karim Kharbouch, but his mother. “I felt like my mother’s story, the beginning to the end, the closure of her going back to Morocco, is when I was like, okay, now the story has a meaning,” French tells Variety. “This goes out to all the mothers that struggle, that have kids, that was forced to sacrifice.”
Given the other films made about rappers and their families — including “Dear Mama,” about Afeni and Tupac Shakur and “Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell,” which heavily features Notorious B.I.G.’s mother Violetta Wallace — it’s not necessarily an unexpected place to start. But the documentary, which premieres June 16 at the Tribeca film Festival, uses the relationship between Karim and Khadija to highlight the...
Given the other films made about rappers and their families — including “Dear Mama,” about Afeni and Tupac Shakur and “Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell,” which heavily features Notorious B.I.G.’s mother Violetta Wallace — it’s not necessarily an unexpected place to start. But the documentary, which premieres June 16 at the Tribeca film Festival, uses the relationship between Karim and Khadija to highlight the...
- 6/16/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
A rapper escaping difficult circumstances to triumph as an artist is a deeply American story and a hip-hop archetype. French Montana is expanding that dynamic with For Khadija, a documentary about his family’s 1996 emigration from Morocco to the Bronx.
The documentary, debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival tonight, chronicles a remarkable story: having to give up his college hoop dreams because he didn’t have a green card, turning to the streets when he saw few other options available, then finding a way out through music and his Cocaine City DVDs,...
The documentary, debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival tonight, chronicles a remarkable story: having to give up his college hoop dreams because he didn’t have a green card, turning to the streets when he saw few other options available, then finding a way out through music and his Cocaine City DVDs,...
- 6/16/2023
- by Andre Gee
- Rollingstone.com
Aubrey “Drake” Graham and Sean “Diddy” Combs have signed on as executive producers of Grammy-nominated rapper French Montana’s documentary “For Khadija,” which is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 16.
Directed by Mandon Lovett, “For Khadija” follows “the unlikely rise of Moroccan-born, multi-platinum recording artist French Montana, as his single mother she sacrifices everything to raise her three young sons in the Bronx, after being abandoned by their father and left destitute,” according to the doc’s official description. “The film spans the globe as it depicts the family’s unique immigrant journey, a son’s perseverance in the face of insurmountable obstacles, and a mother’s unwavering faith — all in pursuit of the American dream.”
The film’s premiere at Tribeca will include a panel discussion with to-be-announced “hip-hop heavyweights, social justice advocates and pop culture icons,” according to a press release. Montana and Ugandan...
Directed by Mandon Lovett, “For Khadija” follows “the unlikely rise of Moroccan-born, multi-platinum recording artist French Montana, as his single mother she sacrifices everything to raise her three young sons in the Bronx, after being abandoned by their father and left destitute,” according to the doc’s official description. “The film spans the globe as it depicts the family’s unique immigrant journey, a son’s perseverance in the face of insurmountable obstacles, and a mother’s unwavering faith — all in pursuit of the American dream.”
The film’s premiere at Tribeca will include a panel discussion with to-be-announced “hip-hop heavyweights, social justice advocates and pop culture icons,” according to a press release. Montana and Ugandan...
- 4/27/2023
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
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