To determine art’s worth is not easy since it speaks to people’s personal experience, tastes and expectations. This documentary a(u)ction essay explores the real value of art in contrast with its worth as an investment on the art market. A mosaic of bizarre stories, the film tracks the machinery of art collectors, businessmen and artists within the art market’s pyramid. It also captures the artists feeding the market with their work, and it maps their relationship with gallerists, who sell art whatever the price.
“The idea of a film about the changes in collecting and dealing art has been on my mind since my Master’s Degree at FAMU. I have been investigating related topics from the very beginning of my filmmaking career: money, power and status on the one hand, and the possibilities of free artistic expression on the other. My goal is to use the film to show the current methods and principles of dealing art also in the context of the socio-historical situation of our times”, Jan Strejcovský said in the statement.
The film is produced by Jakub Wagner and Martin Kohout through the Czech GPO Platform. Currently, the total budget is approximately 102,000 EUR / 2.5 m CZK.
The project is supported by the Czech Film Fund with 44,704 EUR / 1.1 m CZK (for production) and with 18,322 EUR / 450,000 CZK (for development), as well as by the Czech TV with 20,400 EUR / 500,000 CZK and 18,500 EUR / 452,000 CZK in-house.
The shooting started in the autumn of 2020 and will wrap in the autumn of 2023.
Jan Strejcovský has been focusing on art and business topics since his very first documentaries, which were shot in his native Czech Republic and also in Norway, Japan and the USA. He has also collaborated on documentary series for renowned galleries (National Gallery Prague) and for the Czech TV. Together with his colleagues from the Department of Documentary Film at FAMU, he founded the production company GPO Platform with the goal to produce independent long documentaries.
Production Information:
Producer:
GPO Platform (Czech Republic)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Credits:
Director: Jan Strejcovský
Scriptwriter: Jan Strejcovský
Script advisors: Jan Gogola jr., Jan Šípek
DOPs: Patrik Balonek, Jiří Strejcovský jr., Jan Březina
Editor: Michal Böhm
