U3A Cinema Group shows The Painter and the Thief

Norwegian director Benjamin Ree at The Painter and the Thief premiere during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Photo / Getty Images

U3A Cinema Group's first offering for 2021 is an unusual but remarkable documentary recording the development of a relationship between a painter and a thief.

Norwegian director Benjamin Ree invested three years in making this film.

The painter, Barbora Kysilkova, has two paintings stolen from an exhibition she is mounting. The thief, Karl-Bertil Nordland, is quickly brought to justice.

Asked by Kysilkova why he stole the paintings, Nordland's response leads to the artist requesting permission to paint the drug addled petty criminal.

From the courtroom Ree's camera follows this unlikely pair and over a period of three years documents the rehabilitation of a very damaged human being.

The Painter and the Thief, 104 minutes, will screen at Embassy 3 at 11am on Wednesday, February 24.

All welcome. Bring a friend.