Film Documenting Rise And Fall Of Kwame Kilpatrick And Family Premieres Friday

DETROIT (WWJ) - A new documentary offers an inside look into the rise and fall of Kwame Kilpatrick.

The film — premiering Friday, April 3, at the Charles H. Wright Museum — looks at the City Hall scandal surrounding Detroit's former mayor, and the rise and fall of a political family dynasty.

"The movie ends with him saying it's not over," said Pulitzer Prize-winning local reporter M.L. Elrick, among those present at an early screening of "KMK: A Documentary of Kwame Kilpatrick."

Check out the 'KMK' review by Vickie Thomas and M.L. Elrick.

"We're still waiting to hear if his appeal is going to be granted, so he may be right. But even if that appeal is granted, it won't be over...There'll be a re-do," Elrick said. "So the Kilpatrick story seems to be one that has no end, and we're all caught in the front row."

Kilpatrick's mother, former Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, is featured prominently.

"We have been castigated," she says, in trailer footage. "The last year of my public service, and that would've been 2010, I was treated horribly a lot of places around the city."

The documentary includes comments from Christine Beatty, Kilpatrick's former chief of staff and mistress who served time after she lied under oath in a text messaging scandal.

WWJ's Vickie Thomas reports father and son team of Timothy and Tobias Smith produced the film with "exclusive access" — but they didn't allow any input from the Kilpatrick family as to the content.

Kwame Kilpatrick remains behind bars in a federal prison in Texas, serving 28 years for racketeering conspiracy and other crimes. The government said he raked in cash through rigged contracts and bribes.

[Get premiere ticket information HERE].