The Painter and the Thief

When two of Barbora Kysilkova’s most famous paintings get stolen in Oslo, the Czech artist decides to confront one of the accused in court. Unable to discover what happened to her artwork, she instead asks if she can paint the thief’s portrait—a surprising request that he agrees to and that leads to an unexpected friendship. Barbora becomes Karl-Bertil’s closest ally and carer when his self-destructive behaviour lands him in hospital, but her solicitude reveals how much of her own wounds she sees in his. Filmed over three years and full of twists and turns, Benjamin Ree’s documentary skilfully plays with chronology and perspectives to build an edge-of-your-seat narrative worthy of the best fiction scripts. Constantly challenging our perceptions, his psychological study of this vulnerable and compelling duo shows that sometimes the complexity of human nature can only be grasped through art. Charlotte Selb

Artscapes program sponsored by

The Royal Norwegian Embassy supports Norwegian films and Q&As at Hot Docs

MEDIA COVERAGE

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• POV - "Warm, moving, and often astonishing"