Go Bananaz With Gorillaz Documentary

A documentary about Gorillaz titled Bananaz claims to be the first film to be legally released on to the internet before it arrives in theatres or on DVD.

You can watch Bananaz for free when it premieres on the Babelgum website on April 20. It's directed by Ceri Levy, was shot from 2000 to 2006, and covers the virtual band's history. Bananaz features guest appearances from the late Ibrahim Ferrer, Danger Mouse, D12, De La Soul, Dan The Automator, Nineh Cherry and Bootie Brown, and is narrated by actor Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider, Blue Velvet).

"Damon [Albarn] and Jamie [Hewlett] had this track called 'Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head' on [2005's] Demon Days and they thought Dennis would be great to narrate it over music," Levy told Entertainment Weekly. "They approached him and he said yes.

"Next thing I know, I'm sitting there like a child waiting for him to do his thing at this small little studio in London. It was pretty exciting when he walked in — Dennis Hopper was in the room doing what Dennis Hopper does, and it was fantastic."

Bananaz will be released to theatres and DVD through EMI at a later date. It was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and the South By Southwest Film Festival earlier this year.

Albarn and Hewlett have been working on the still-untitled third Gorillaz album, which is apparently inspired by Arabic music. There's no word on when the disc will be released.

Here's the Bananaz trailer: