By Eric Kohn

My Kid Could Paint That
Directed by Ami Bar-Lev


Amir Bar-Lev’s My Kid Could Paint That tracks the remarkable story of Marla Olmstead, whose abstract paintings gained sudden distinction in the art world three years ago when she was 4. It became the cutest child prodigy story this side of Mozart—until an explosive report aired on “60 Minutes,” suggesting that Olmstead’s work was fraudulent and placing blame on her parents. Bar-Lev’s camera seems to capture every element of the story, and parts of the film reflect his reservations about buying into the authenticity of Olmstead’s work. In conversation, the director exudes the same passion about his subject that sustains the narrative.

NYPress: Your documentary isn’t the only one of late to incorporate the filmmaker into the story.
I think that’s got something to do with the period of time we’re in, where we’re all so saturated with non-fiction information, whether it’s these suddenly popular documentaries or reality TV. We’re interested in peeping behind the curtain to look at the process of making them. I don’t want the film to be seen as debunking documentary film. I think that the problems of documentary filmmaking are inherently part of the medium. It’s interesting to think about them and talk about them when the film calls for it. I don’t think that makes it any less truthful.

Going into it, did you know that your presence was going to be a part of the film?
Definitely. I was fascinated with what the international stardom of this 4-year-old said about so many different things: Our relationship with art, our relationship with children. During the first couple of interviews, people broke into tears talking about her. They were ascribing an almost divine significance to her.

So this was before the controversy that arose from questions of authenticity surrounding her work?
Right, this is pre-controversy. If somebody is said to be a prodigious golf player or chess player, it’s easy to measure it, because there are objective standards. But there aren’t objective standards to abstract art. To say that she’s prodigious in abstract art—that peaked my interest.

Were you skeptical from the outset?
I was pretty open to anything that could happen. I knew it would be an interesting ride. The other element of it is this very likable family. They weren’t the type of family that you think about when you hear about child celebrities. Their child was an international celebrity literally overnight. I wanted to see how they rode that out. There’s this tension between her parents that you can kind of pick up on.

And there’s a suggestion in the film that your own presence in the house affected that tension.
As documentary filmmakers, we can’t be flies on the wall. We have opinions, and we affect the things we’re trying to capture. That doesn’t make our responsibility any less substantial. I think there are truthful ways of doing documentary filmmaking and less truthful ways. People always talk about objectivity. That makes me scratch my head. I’m not sure how you apply the idea of objectivity to documentary filmmaking. It’s much more about subjectivity—but that doesn’t get you off the hook of having to be truthful. It becomes an existential kind of thing…I get hurt when people think that the film is trying to debunk people, because it really isn’t.

Did you show the movie to the family?
I did. They’re unhappy with the film. I showed it to them right before Sundance. It was like showing somebody your journal of the time that you spent together. Honestly, I didn’t know how they were going to take it. A part of me sympathizes with them. I’m sure it’s very hard for them to see it. Another part of me feels like I did the best I could for them. I wish they could see that a lot of people walk away from the film thinking there’s no hoax at all.

What’s your relationship with the art world?
There’s a lot of bullshit in the art world, but there’s a lot of bullshit in all markets. Just because there is a crazy art market doesn’t mean that one should dismiss modern art as readily as most people do. I started this process knowing almost nothing about abstract art and being a little skeptical about it. I find myself a lot less skeptical now. I wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on something, but there is a point to non-representational painting, in the same way that there’s a point to drawing attention to one’s own role in documentary filmmaking.