“We cannot speak other than by our paintings,” wrote Vincent van Gogh in the week before his death. This innovative biopic takes him at his word. Live actors mesh seamlessly with paintings in the style of the artist to illuminate the circumstances of his tragic demise. Reluctantly at first, the son of the local postman delves ever deeper into the mystery, encountering famous portrait subjects and landscape scenes, and approaching them from new angles. The story sticks to the facts while breathing life into the gaps, and the effect is similar for van Gogh’s art. After this film, it will never look quite the same.

Polish filmmaker and painter Dorota Kobiela first conceived Loving Vincent as a seven-minute short in 2008 after studying van Gogh’s techniques and reading his letters. She teamed up with her husband Hugh Welchman to realise this full-length version, seven years in the making and incorporating 65,000 painted frames by 125 painters. With music by Clint Mansell .

“The result is a curious and often exquisite blend of two art forms […] It was a pleasure to become happily lost in this unique film’s world of colour and line, and to see two filmmakers’ mad dream come true.” Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times