The Artist's Daughter

In an effort to better understand her long estranged father, filmmaker Margarita Linton visits the exhibition of his work in the gallery of a museum in Tel Aviv. Margarita has not seen her father—an esteemed Russian painter known for his intimate and revealing self-portraits—in over a decade, but she is hopeful that this new exhibition could be the opportunity for them to reconnect. In a series of telephone conversations with him, Margarita attempts to organize the details for an in-person visit and a proposed documentary collaboration, but instead she receives only broken promises and postponements. As her frustration mounts, she looks to others to fill in the gaps: her mother, his abandoned ex-wife, her favored younger brother and even the exhibition’s curator, yet her father’s absence looms. Using this lack as grist, Margarita’s resolve to tell her story regardless of his involvement, results in a most inspired and creative turn of events. Ultimately, this is an emotional look at a daughter as she deconstructs the legacy of an artist as a neglectful father, while harnessing the power of acceptance through her own impressive creativity.

Preceded by The Two Lives of Rube Goldberg

West Coast Premiere

Margarita Linton emigrated to Israel from Ukraine when she was 5 years old. After completing her military service as a hiking guide, she studied still photography, and wrote and published poetry. She graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in 2012. During her studies, she won the Galit Rosen Directing Award and the Class of 2012 Promising Director Award. Since graduating, she works as a film editor for documentaries, TV series, and short films, as well as an editing mentor at Sam Spiegel film school, and Hadassah academic college. Margarita participated in the 5th edition of The JSFS script lab with her debut script “Life is Anywhere Else”. While developing the script, Margarita shot her first full-length documentary feature “The Artist’s Daughter, Oil on Canvas, 2021”.

Yaniv Linton began his artistic way as a stills photographer. His solo exhibition New on Old on New (2005) used Syrian village ruins as background on which colour slides were screened upon, creating a multilayer installation. The exhibition gained broad national exposure. Since Graduating from the Sam Spiegel film school in 2011 Yaniv works as a cinematographer, shooting feature films, TV dramas and documentaries, as well as teaching cinematography at the Sam Spiegel film school and private cinematography courses. The Artist's Daughter, Oil on Canvas, 2021 is his first feature-length film."