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At four years old, Marla Olmstead became an overnight art sensation, her works selling for up to 25,000 US dollars a piece. Then the media and art world turned, with accusations of fraud dogging the Olmstead family. Setting out to cover the remarkable story of a child prodigy, documentary maker Amir Bar-Lev suddenly found himself in the middle of a tempest over the authenticity of his subject after a 60 minutes report suggested Marla's amateur artist father was assisting the paintings. What results is a fascinating study of society's obsession with child prodigies, the question of what makes something art and the media's role in elevating - and subsequently destroying - celebrities. Ultimately, Bar-Lev finds himself examining the ethics involved in the very creation of documentary narratives.
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D Amir Bar-Lev P John Battsek, Stephen Dunn Dist Sony Pictures TD 35mm/2007/81mins