My Kid Could Paint That

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2006, 83 min
EP - European Premiere
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

About the film

A bright new star going by the name of Maria Olmstead has recently appeared on the fine-art firmament. Her paintings are considered the height of abstract expressionism and are compared with the works of Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock and Picasso himself. Renowned connoisseurs of fine art collect her works, and her private views are attended by dozens of journalists and TV crews. Yet Maria Olmstead is only four years old! Her parents resolutely reject the idea of Maria being a typical infant prodigy; to them, she’s just an ordinary little girl who loves painting. They have no problems with the huge international media attention her talent has generated, until the creators of the popular TV show 60 Minutes start insisting that Maria’s father must be playing a heavy-handed role in the production of Maria’s paintings. The film finds a fascinating slant on the way in which society is obsessed with “infant prodigies” and, taking example from this exceedingly young artist, addresses the issues of the true essence of art.

About the director

Amir Bar-Lev established himself on the film circuit with his feature debut Fighter (1999), screened in the documentary film competition at the KVIFF in 2000. This piece won six international awards and was classed as one of the best documentaries of 2001 by the prestigious magazines Newsweek, Rolling Stone and Village Voice. Since that time he has made seven award-winning documentary films, e.g. New Orleans Furlough and Chris Donahoe: Independent Filmmaker. Bar-Lev has also produced a series of television programmes for VH1, the Sundance Channel, Spike TV, MTV and the Weather Channel. He is currently also working on the documentary Kid Protocol.