OSCILLOSCOPE FORGES AHEAD, ACQUIRES “ART AND CRAFT”; FILM TO WORLD PREMIERE AT TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
By Oscilloscope
Oscilloscope Laboratories announced today that it has acquired North American Rights to ART AND CRAFT, Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman’s deft, richly entertaining art caper doc. The film will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival next month and O-scope is planning a theatrical release in late summer/early fall.
ART AND CRAFT is the story of the charismatic, complex Mark Landis, perhaps the most prolific art forger in US history. For over 30 years, he’s duped curators throughout the country with precise imitations of a vast range of works, from fifteenth century masterpieces to Picasso. His actions are mysterious to many — while he could fetch millions on the open market, he donates his counterfeits for free, going so far as to pose in such guises as a Jesuit priest or a philanthropic donor. Enter Matthew Leininger, a registrar from Cincinnati who was conned by Landis years ago and who has been pursuing him obsessively ever since. What begins as a game of cat-and-mouse between Leininger and Landis eventually turns into something more surprising and complicated, proving once again that truth can be stranger than fiction.
About the acquisition, O-scope’s Dan Berger and David Laub said, “We’ve been discussing Art and Craft for some time and as excited as we were to see it, nothing could have prepared us for how blown away we’d be. Sam and Jennifer, along with co-director Mark Becker, capture these amazing characters with the perfect mixture of humor and heart, resulting in one of the most entertaining and moving documentaries we’ve seen in years. We’re honored that they have chosen to work with us on it.”
Filmmakers Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman said, “We couldn’t have dreamed of a better home for this film. O-Scope embodies the perfect mix of mensch and mischievous; like our main subject — they are art and craft.”
Cullman previously co-directed the Academy Award® nominated documentary If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, which was also released by O-Scope. Grausman is the director of the acclaimed documentary Pressure Cooker, which won awards at several film festivals and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Rounding out the filmmaking team is co-director Mark Becker, the director of Romantico (nominated for two independent Spirit Awards), Executive Producers Lisa Kleiner Chanoff and Bonni Cohen of Catapult Film Fund and Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman and Carolyn Hepburn of Motto Pictures. Marc H. Simon of Cowan DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.