SXSW 2022: 20 Movies You Need To Know About
3. The Thief Collector
A compulsively engrossing documentary that feels like it'd be a perfect acquisition for Netflix, The Thief Collector chronicles the recovery of a Willem de Kooning painting some three decades after it was boldly cut out of its frame and stolen from an Arizona museum.
The fascination of the story lies in the fact that the painting was seemingly pilfered by an unassuming married couple, Jerry and Rita Alter, who did it not for riches but simply to display it in their own home for their own pleasure.
The repatriation of the painting - which is now worth a staggering $160 million - to its original home opens a wider discussion about how we as a society engage with art, while offering up a mesmerising deep-dive into the lives of its elusive central couple.
Come for the stranger-than-fiction story, stay for the hilarious dramatic re-enactments performed by Glenn Howerton.
The Thief Collector is currently seeking distribution.