Art Star and the Sudanese Twins

New Zealand, 2008, 95’

Director Pietra Brettkelly was in the Darfur region of Sudan working on a documentary when she happened to meet world-renowned artist Vanessa Beecroft. The film follows Beecroft’s intentions to adopt orphaned Sudanese twins, and how this bleeds into her art and personal life. It is becoming more and more apparent that with Vanessa there is no boundary between life and art. Her obsession with adoption drives her marriage to a breaking point and fuels her controversial art, raising troubling questions about exploitation, culture clash, and the imposition of the West on Africa. Art Star and the Sudanese Twins is a brutally honest, remarkably self-critical reflection on foreign adoption that touches unexpectedly on issues of alienation and loneliness.

The film’s premiere was at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in the US where it triggered widespread discussion.

Directed by Pietra Brettkelly

Produced by Pietra Brettkelly, New Zealand Film Commission