Showing @ Cineworld, Edinburgh, Wed 26 and Thu 27 Jun & Odeon Wester Hailes, Fri 28 Jun

Jeanie Finlay / UK / 2013 / 88 mins

The story of two Scottish rappers who adopt American personas to succeed in the music industry is an idea ripe with comic potential. However, Jeanie Finlay’s documentary on “Californian” rap duo Silibil’n’Brains is far more than a frivolous tale of young pranksters living a life of excess. It is a surprisingly poignant and thought-provoking examination of the lengths people will go to in order to follow their dreams, and what happens when it all goes wrong.

Gavin “Brains” Bain and Billy “Silibil” Boyd were not only gifted rap artists, but also enormously driven. When they were mocked by music industry executives for daring to rap with Scottish accents, they formulated a plan for revenge. It involved moving to London and re-inventing themselves as Americans. They would conquer the music industry and finish with a high profile “reveal”. The Great Hip Hop Hoax traces how it all went awry. Through animated re-enactments, archive footage and interviews with Bain, Boyd, and their industry contacts, Finlay pieces together a sensitive and moving portrait of a lie that got out of control.  It is a timely reminder of the high price of fame in a world where we can all be whatever we want – as long as we fit into the right niche.

Showing as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2013