Hemali Vadalia gave her creative inputs to “Loving Vincent”, a film made entirely of oil paintings. The artist says technology has opened more doors for such artistic films.
“I think in the past as well, beautiful films have been made, on various subjects, with different techniques, whether it is fully hand painted or made with stop motion animation or traditional animation. But very few people knew about it,” Vadalia told IANS in an email.
“Loving Vincent”, which tells the story of painter Vincent van Gogh through paintings, was released in India by MVP Entertainment on November 3 in under 10 screens.
“Now because of the internet and the media, it is easier to reach out to audience across the globe… And it is possible to connect with people who care about such films, stories and the visual treatment, which is so unique, it is like a different language in the visual storytelling.
“So in a way, it is good that at least it has reached here, and is being screened for the public viewing in India apart from the film festivals,” she added.
Robert Gulaczyk plays Vincent van Gogh in the film, which is touted to be the world’s first fully painted feature film. This movie is written and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman.
More than 125 professional oil-painters from all over the world came to “Loving Vincent” studios in Poland and Greece to create 65,000 paintings for the story. There are 94 Vincent van Gogh’s paintings that feature in a form very close to the original.
Vadalia says she came to know about the film when she watched the trailer online years ago.
“I applied with my works to be a part of this film project… I am not sure if such collaborations between the artists and the filmmaker was possible a decade ago. And people too are interested in serious cinema, serious animation. Indian animation is changing as well, and it is no more limited to catering to younger audience.”
The artiste says it is very encouraging to see “a film of this magnitude being made and is so well received by the audience here”.
“To see the people being able to connect with the character and found the visuals very moving. Whether they are artists themselves or not,” she added.
She has got a positive response.
“I think people were able to appreciate the visual language and the storyline.”
