Poor Marla Olmstead. While still a wee babe, she took a shine to painting, generated a few abstract pieces, and sparked off a years-long scandal that culminated in My Kid Could Paint That, a documentary premiering October 5th.
After a gallery in Marla’s home of Binghamton, NY started displaying her work – and selling it for thousands of dollars – a local reporter picked up the story and, in swift succession, the New York Times, 60 Minutes, and Oprah came calling. But all Marla wanted to do was eat jelly beans, play with her bro, and (depending on who you ask) paint with abandon. In fact, she remained virtually mute around reporters – as it turned out, she cared but little about her method, message, or, really, medium.
At the height of the frenzy, director Amir Bar-Lev entered the picture, stayed for a year, and taped the fall-out. Though intending to raise the thorny issues at the center of abstract art, Bar-Lev instead began monitoring and questioning a dark but growing subtext: whether Marla painted all the pieces herself, unassisted.
After the film received good reviews at Sundance, Sony Pictures Classic picked it up for wide release. The trailer, though laughably melodramatic, is well worth the watch.
[Cinematical via ONTD]
