Released: 05/22/08

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES WRAPS  THE 2007-2008 SEASON WITH A FREE SCREENING OF MY KID COULD PAINT THAT ON JUNE 4^th

The 2007-2008 Sundance Institute Documentary Series concludes on Wednesday, June 4th, with the documentary MY KID COULD PAINT THAT, directed by Amir Bar-Lev.  A film that premiered to critical and audience acclaim at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, MY KID COULD PAINT THAT chronicles the media frenzy surrounding four-year-old Marla Olmstead and invites its audience to determine whether she is an artistic genius or an exploited child at the center of a fraud. Presented in association with the Park City Film Series, the free screening starts at 7 p.m. at the Jim Santy Auditorium in the Park City Library, 1255 Park Avenue. The film’s director, Amir Bar-Lev will be in attendance and will be available for a Q&A after the screening.

In MY KID COULD PAINT THAT,  director Amir Bar-Lev traces four-year-old Marla's rapid ascent to international fame as a "budding Picasso" and her fall after a "60 Minutes" segment suggested Marla was not the creator of her expensive paintings. Five months before the exposé, Bar-Lev began filming Marla and her family as a part of documentary exploring child celebrity and the meaning of abstract art. As his film's focus becomes the center of a controversy, Bar-Lev attempts to uncover whether her paintings are the creations of an art prodigy or the work of an overly-ambitious and manipulative father.  The end result is a film that takes an introspective look at a family, the media's ability to create and destroy celebrity, and the role documentary filmmaking plays in the lives of its subjects. 

This is Amir Bar-Lev’s second feature film.  His directorial debut, FIGHTER, won six international awards and was named one of the top documentaries of 2001 by Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and the Village Voice.  He has since directed several award winning documentary and narrative shorts, including NEW ORLEANS FURLOUGH and CHRIS DONAHOE: INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER. Currently, he is working on KID PROTOCOL, a documentary on the world’s greatest party crasher.

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Series is a free monthly screening series that presents some of the most compelling nonfiction films to come out of the previous year’s Sundance Film Festival.  The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Series is presented in association with the Park City Film Series.

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Series is supported by Principal Sponsor Zions Bank, Major Sponsor Summit County Recreation, Arts, and Parks Tax Program, and In Kind Supporters City Weekly, Park City Marriott, Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky Program and Salt Lake magazine.

Next month the SUNDANCE INSTITUTE OUTDOOR FILM FESTIVAL kicks off with a screening of the classic Coen Brothers’ film, RAISING ARIZONA in Park City on July 11^th.

Running July 11 – August 27, all SUNDANCE INSTITUTE OUTDOOR FILM FESTIVAL screenings are held on Mondays at The Gallivan Center, 239 South Main Street, in Salt Lake City, Wednesdays at the Eccles Stage at the Sundance Resort, North Fork Provo Canyon, and Fridays at City Park on Park  Avenue in Park City.  Admission to all screenings is free, and tickets or reservations are not required. All screenings begin at sundown, or approximately 9:00 p.m.  For more information call 435.658.3456 or visit the Institute website at www.sundance.org/utah.

Visit  www.sundance.org for the entire series lineup.

Sundance Institute

Dedicated to the year-round development of artists of independent vision and to the exhibition of their new work. Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, the Institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource for thousands of independent artists through its Sundance Film Festival and artistic development programs for filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, playwrights and theatre artists. The original values of independence, creative risk-taking, and discovery continue to define and guide the work of Sundance Institute, both with US artists and, increasingly, with artists from other regions of the world.

For more information contact:

Kristina Parker

kristina_parker@sundance.org, 435-776-7859