John Forté - The Russian Winter (Documentary Trailer)

We all remember John Forté for his contribution to the Fugees and his 14-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. Now, the controversial artist is embarking on an unlikely path, taking us for a journey through Russia following the country’s musicians across the country and organizing a number of concerts for local charities. The film also reveals the corruption that musicians fall victim to, as well as his culture clash with the locals. The piece is slated for a debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. In addition, Forté will perform with the cast of the documentary at the Bowery Ballroom including special guests Natasha Bedingfield, Talib Kweli and Carly Simon’s son, Ben Taylor. Check out a quote from Forté himself about why he didn’t want to make a typical documentary about his life after prison.

“I think the knee-jerk reaction of coming home was to make a documentary about my life preceding prison, and what took place in prison, leading up to me coming home. But something about it just didn’t feel right. It felt exploitative. You know, I went to prep school. When I came back to the ‘hood, it wasn’t like people slapped me on the back and said, ‘Wow, you got your stripes now.’ But there were so many guys that went for a year, went away for two years, went away for five years. And when they came back, it was almost like they were praised. And that’s the last message I wanted to send. There was nothing cool about my time away.”