Film & Kunst: "Manche mögen’s falsch"

Art forgers wherever you look... The "Film & Art" series by Cinema Quadrat and Kunsthalle Mannheim takes a look at the southern Chinese city of Dafen, where large works of art are forged on an assembly line...

SOME LIKE IT WRONG

DEU 2025. D: Stanislaw Mucha. Documentary. 90 min. ChinOmdtU. FSK: 0

In the southern Chinese city of Dafen, countless new masterpieces are created every day, as thousands of painters copy the icons of European art history from Rembrandt to Monet, from van Gogh to Gerhard Richter; they and their families live, sleep and dream among the paintings. Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" dry by the dozen on one balcony, while the finished copies of Gerhard Richter's paintings hang on another. A Richter for 30 euros, a small van Gogh for 45, Monet's water lilies for 120, Rembrandt's self-portraits for 150 - and of course the Mona Lisa's smile is also available. Over 10 million paintings leave Dafen's studios every year - the bulk orders go to Europe and America. What supermarkets and furniture stores in the West sell for many times the price feeds a whole squad of painters and their families in this city. Copying according to demand and commission is an example of globalized art commerce. But who are the people who create these artistic copies? Director Stanislaw Mucha tells their story full of respect and humor.�

Introduction: Dr. Peter Bär, Cinema Quadrat