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André Masson (Alex Lutz, Singing Jailbirds – SFFF 2022, Guy – SFFF 2019) is a ruthless and ambitious art dealer at a prestigious auction house. One day, he is contacted by a lawyer (Nora Hamzawi) claiming that a young factory worker from Mulhouse (Arcadi Radeff) owns a painting by renowned Austrian painter Egon Schiele and would like to have it appraised. Skeptical, André nevertheless makes the trip to Mulhouse. Against all odds, the painting turns out to be a real masterpiece worth millions. It also turns out to have been missing since World War II after being stolen from a Jewish family by the Nazis.

For André, this discovery could be the pinnacle of his career, but he soon realizes that in the brutal and duplicitous art world, it could also mean the end of it. Fortunately, he can count on the help of his ex-wife and colleague Bertina (Léa Drucker, The Nannies – SFFF 2023, Custody – SFFF 2018) and his whimsical intern Aurore (Louise Chevillotte), a pathological liar.

Loosely based on the true discovery of Egon Schiele’s masterpiece Sunflowers in a modest apartment in Mulhouse in 2005, Auction follows the newfound painting’s thrilling journey through the treacherous world of art dealing, appraising, auctioning, and collecting. With an array of amusing and endearing characters, the film beautifully presents the impact the painting’s discovery has on everyone who comes close to it.

AUCTION is presented in Partnership with the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival.

DIRECTOR: Pascal Bonitzer
Screenplay: Pascal Bonitzer & Iliana Lolic

CAST:
Alex Lutz: André Masson
Léa Drucker: Bertina
Nora Hamzawi: Maître Suzanne Egerman
Louise Chevillotte: Aurore
Arcadi Radeff: Martin Keller
Laurence Côte: Mme Keller

France, 2024
91 min
Not Rated (All Audiences)
In French with English subtitles.

U.S. Distribution:
Menemsha Films