The first feature film project of our main guest Albert Oehlen (albeit technically directed by his erstwhile schoolmate Oliver Hirschbiegel, internationally best known for Downfall) appears to be a documentary film of the variety “a painting and how it was made”, but a sly and essential twist sets it apart from such famous representatives of that genre as for example the ATFF 2025 -featured Le mystère Picasso (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1956): namely that the person in front of the camera is not at all Oehlen, but in (as a side note, far from similar-looking) actor Ben Becker as him, mirroring the already broadly parodic movements and comments of the off-screen artist, as well as throwing his own additions to the mix. The central playful handling of identity and public image went further into Surrealism in the sequels-cum-variations Bad Painter (2025) and The End (2026). (HT Nuotio)
Language: English, no subtitles
Finnish premiere
In the presence of Albert Oehlen
