International Competition

When two paintings by Czech naturalist Barbora Kysilkova are stolen from an Oslo art gallery, Norwegian authorities quickly identify and arrest the two thieves but find no trace of the paintings. Hoping to learn what happened, Barbora approaches one of the thieves at his criminal hearing. She asks if she can paint his portrait and, contrite, he agrees. What follows, over a series of portraits and many years, is an extraordinary story of human connection and friendship. Benjamin Ree unfolds the fraught lives and vulnerabilities of two souls who come to recognize themselves in the other – the darkness, wounds, compulsions, and self-destructive behavior. He captures the revelatory moment when a junkie and petty crook who has done jail time, first sees his portrait and breaks down completely. Throughout the film, our understanding of both people, and even the stolen paintings, changes entirely.