Loving Vincent The Impossible Dream, documents and illustrates the filmmakers’ journey of creating the world’s first fully oil painted feature film while bringing the paintings of Vincent van Gogh to life. The documentary takes the audience through the origin story of the film’s concept, each step of the production process, and ultimately how the team innovated a new way to create animation and storytelling. Wecel mixed footage and interviews from production with post-Academy Award interviews, providing a balance between narration and more hand-held guerrilla filmmaking through the chaos that came with creating Loving Vincent.
Accompanied by 125 professional oil-painters who travelled from all across the world to the Loving Vincent studios in Poland and Greece, passionate co-directors Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela created their vision of Loving Vincent. Kobiela’s idea sparked from wanting to create a short film out of paintings, but soon grew to a full feature film that was bigger and more challenging than her and her team could have imagined. The dream that seemed impossible in achieving gained momentum by receiving financial support, moral support, and enthusiastic encouragement from members of the public all over the world. Consisting of 65,000 paintings and grossing $6.7 million US and $42 million worldwide, Loving Vincent was awarded with an Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe nomination, Annie Award nomination, BAFTA Award nomination, a Critics Choice Award nomination, and was awarded one of the National Board of Review’s Top Ten Independent Films.
Not only does this documentary demonstrate the technology and artistic making of each frame, but it uncovers the risky challenges that resided with the filmmakers each step of their journey in recreating the work of one of the world’s greatest artists.
PLAYDATES in the U.S.
3/8 – 3/14
3 Below Theaters and Lounge
San Jose
3/8 – 3/14
Hopewell Theater
New York
3/8 – 3/14
Lark
San Francisco
3/8 – 3/14
Filmbar
Phoenix
3/10 – 3/30
Museum of Fine Arts
Houston
3/15 – 3/22
Art House
Billings, MT
3/21 – 3/31
Gateway
Columbus, OH
3/22 – 3/28
Lyric Theatre
Blacksburg, VA
3/22-24, 28-30 and 4/4
Riviera Theater
Three Rivers, MI
3/29 – 4/4
Dragonfly Cinema
Bremerton, WA
3/31 Only
Music Box
Chicago, IL
4/8 – 4/11
Cinema 21
Portland, OR
4/27 Only
Pickford Film Center
Bellingham, WA
4/30 Only
Parkway
Oakland, CA
