Candid Kanye West film premieres at Sundance amid editing row

Los Angeles: A new Kanye West documentary featuring candid moments from his early life premiered at the Sundance film festival Sunday, just days after the rapper demanded that Netflix allow him to re-edit the final cut.

The first part of "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy" streamed at Sundance -- taking place online due to the pandemic -- and focuses on his initial frustrated efforts to transition from hotshot young producer to rapper.

It also shows West awkwardly removing his retainers when on camera, growing angry at being dismissed because he "grew up in the suburbs," and sharing tender moments with his late mother Donda.

In an Instagram post Friday, West -- now known as Ye -- wrote that he "must get final edit and approval on this doc before it releases on Netflix," where it launches February 16.

"Open the edit room immediately so I can be in charge of my own image," he wrote, in a post liked 1.5 million times.

In the film´s opening scene, West is shown in 2020 on the phone asking for the contracts to sign off the documentary, suggesting he may have later reconsidered his approval.

The project began with filmmaker Clarence "Coodie" Simmons, who started following his friend West with a camera in Chicago in 2001, curious to see how far the ambitious young rap producer could go.

Simmons would amass some 320 hours of footage over the span of two decades.

In a virtual panel following the screening, Simmons said West had "let us do our thing," but that he had also tried to reassure the musician about the final film.

"When I met with Kanye I asked him, ´you got to trust me bro, like you trusted me all these years with all this footage and just to film you."