THE DISCIPLE: A WU-TANG FABLE to Stream on Netflix
The documentary follows Dutch-Moroccan artist Cilvaringz and his mentorship under The RZA.
A WU-TANG FABLE, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Joanna Natasegara, is set to release on Netflix October 16. The film marks Natasegara's feature directorial debut, following her Academy Award-winning work on The White Helmets and The Edge of Democracy.
The documentary is produced by Abigail Anketell-Jones, Lauren Dark and Vanessa Kirby. It is a Netflix Documentary in association with Studio Gebbia, Film4, 36 Cinema, Sony Music Vision, and an Aluna Entertainment and Violet Films production.
Executive producers include The RZA, Joe Gebbia, Jason Ropell, Abazar Khayami, David Kimbangi, Farhana Bhula and Ollie Madden for Film4, and Trevor Burgess, Gary Hess and James Costa for Bird Street Productions. The film is edited by Chloë Lambourne and Chris Dickens.
Synopsis
The true story of an outsider whose relentless determination catapults him into the Wu-Tang Clan's inner circle, where ambition and creativity converge to record an album destined to ignite global controversy.
Academy Award-winning producer Joanna Natasegara makes her feature directorial debut, tracing the decades-long journey of Dutch-Moroccan rapper and producer Cilvaringz, who transformed himself from the group's most devoted fan into the unlikeliest of disciples to his childhood heroes, including The RZA, whose mentorship shapes the odyssey that follows.
That journey culminates in Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a 31-track album packaged in an ornate, handcrafted silver box and auctioned to the highest bidder in 2015. Only one copy will ever legally exist. Its scarcity is a form of protest, and an argument that music still holds intrinsic worth as art in a digital age.
The result is one of the most controversial artifacts of our time that sparked ongoing conversations about technology, creation and ownership. It's also a story about how far one outsider went to belong.
The film had its World Premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Director and producer Joanna Natasegara said: 'For the last 5 years making this film has been a labour of love and discovery for me. Initially I was inspired by a teenhood love of Wu-Tang and a story about the secret album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin too intriguing to miss. In the making I discovered so much more about why Tarik, myself, and so many of us idolise them. They stand for so much that is so needed right now — community, talent, tenacity, innovation and love. I'm so thrilled audiences will get to spend time in this world I've loved so much.'
