“Cinematically gorgeous...”
“a breathtakingly tender and intelligent love story”
– Lynne Fernie, HOT DOCS

“Hot Docs Gem Spring & Arnaud blends art with love story”
Martin Knelman – THE TORONTO STAR

SYNOPSIS

Art, love, and mortality explored through the lives and work of artists Spring Hurlbut and Arnaud Maggs.

Arnaud Maggs, turning 85, embarks on a series of self- portraits that wryly depict his life’s work. Spring Hurlbut, at 60 is creating haunting works that evoke mortality while harboring the certainty that Arnaud’s time is limited. Together and alone, each grapples with the nature of an artist’s creativity where the drive for invention and discovery resists life’s finite reality.

The film immerses the viewer in a world where art and life are indivisible and where the couple’s devotion to each other is matched only by their dedication to their own work. The camera captures the visually rich and precise world of these strong individuals; the texture of their surroundings; the humor of their interaction and their struggles to bring their ideas to life. The urban feel of the studio and gallery is seen in counterpoint to the artists’ bucolic retreat in the south of France. It is a world shaped by the artists’ commitment to distill what is most meaningful from life to create an enduring trace of their existence.

SELECTED SCREENINGS

• Hot Docs, 2013

CREDITS

Directed by Marcia Connolly and Katherine Knight

Cinematography by Marcia Connolly

Produced by Katherine Knight and David Craig

Produced by Marcia Connolly

Edited by Jared Raab

Original Music composed by Justin Small and Ohad Benchetrit

Sound Design by Alan Geldart

Funded by the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts and the Toronto Arts Council