''The Great Artist'' is a 2020 American short

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri is a multidisciplinary artist, film director, fashion and documentary photographer, public speaker, television personality, Princeton University educator, founder and chief marketing officer, known mononymously as "Indrani" ...

and written and produced by Sunny Vachher and Matthew Postlethwaite. Starring

Matthew Postlethwaite Matthew Postlethwaite (born 25 September 1991 in Whitehaven, England) is a British actor, writer, singer, artist and entrepreneur. He produced, created and starred in the 2020 short film ''The Great Artist''. His production company, Purpose Co. ...

, the rest of the cast includes

Marimar Vega Marimar Vega (born María del Mar Vega Sisto on August 14, 1983) is a Mexican actress. Vega studied acting in Centro de Formacion Actoral of TV Azteca. Biography Vega was born August 14, 1983, in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. She is ...

Rain Valdez Rain Valdez (born 1981) is an American actress, writer, and producer who rose to prominence with her award-winning short film, ''Ryans''. She stars in the web series ''Razor Tongue'', which she created and which has earned her a Primetime Emmy nom ...

and Benjamin Patterson. The film was produced during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and enjoyed a successful festival run, which began virtually on December 31, 2020 in that month's edition of the 2020 TopShorts Film Festival. This resulted in it winning and being nominated for numerous awards, including for Postlethwaite's performance, Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri's directing, Richi Carter's score and the original song "Brave" (which was written by

, Jon Altham and

Pia Toscano Pia Toscano (born October 14, 1988) is an American singer. Toscano placed ninth on the tenth season of ''American Idol''. In 2016, she released the EP ''Belong''. Her debut album ''I'm Good'' was released on October 14, 2022. Early life Toscano ...

; performed by

), which made history as the first song from a live-action short film to win the

Hollywood Music in Media Award The Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) is an award organization honoring original music (Song and Score) in all forms visual media including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries, music videos and special pr ...

for Outstanding Song Written for Visual Media (Short Film). It screened at the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes Film Festival. The film qualified for consideration for the Live Action Short Film Shortlist for the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...

and was selected by ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' as one of the Oscars' Top 5 Live Action Shorts.

Premise

A gifted artist finds himself in a broken balance between creating world class art and the all too silent struggle of self care as his life begins to unravel because of his

Dissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

Cast

as The Great Artist *

as Perry *

as Angela * Benjamin Patterson as Charlie * Kalena Ranoa as Odette * Addison Brasil as Henry Austin * Julia Black as The Host

Production

Development and pre-production

Postlethwaite created the story and wrote the film with Vachher at the beginning of January 2020 as a way to bring awareness to mental health, inspired by Postlethwaite’s experience when he was admitted to the hospital in his 20s for feeling

suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

. Postlethwaite further added in an interview for ''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was c ...

'', "As I talk about it, it becomes easier. A lot of people are more open to talk about their struggles with mental health. We need to know that we’re not alone. That’s what we’re trying to do with the film. We’re trying to open the conversation.” Later that year, Postlethwaite and Producer Sunny Vachher's production company, Purpose Co., received the

green-light To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

from

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, record ...

to move forward with production, and received endorsements from various major mental health organizations. The film has the support of major organizations such as

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

, American Foundation of Suicide Prevention,

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) is a United States-based suicide prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preven ...

Movember Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide. It is a portmanteau of the Australian-Engli ...

, Kindred, Tethr, The Tramuto Foundation, and Stand with Impact, with the

National Alliance on Mental Illness The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a United States-based nonprofit organization originally founded as a grassroots group by family members of people diagnosed with mental illness. NAMI identifies its mission as "providing advoca ...

(NAMI) further sponsoring the film at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival.

Filming

Filming took place in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

safety protocols in place, with production ending with zero positive cases for the virus.

Reception

"It is the climax that is truly brilliant -- one that earned the film a consideration for the Live Action Short Film shortlist for the 93rd Academy Awards...Are we all striving to achieve 'greatness' by holding our authentic self hostage? This is the haunting question that Pal-Chaudhuri leaves her viewers with," according to Prerna Mittra of The Indian Express. Markos Papadatos of ''Digital Journal'' was positive about the film and praised Postlethwaite's performance, writing that "...he is not afraid to be raw and vulnerable, where one can really hear his heart in this short movie. He layers his emotions well and he delves beyond the surface to bring this complex character to life." He then went on to add that "It truly underscores the fact that for great art to be produced, there needs to be major suffering. Viewers are bound to find it warm, heartfelt, and relatable, especially in the era of COVID-19." Christopher Henry of ''The Blunt Post'' praised the directing, cinematography, writing and performances, concluding his review that "It manages not only to humanize not only the illness of DID but to humanize the idea of an artist as well. That behind the carefully constructed work of beauty, lies the turmoil and sorrow that one had to endure to produce it."

Accolades

References

External links

Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Artist, The 2020 films 2020 short films 2020 drama films 2020 LGBT-related films American drama short films Films about depression Films about dissociative identity disorder Films about fictional painters Films about suicide Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic American nonlinear narrative films Films shot in Los Angeles American LGBT-related short films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films