There Are No Fakes

Kevin Hearn of the Barenaked Ladies (Big Bang Theory theme) buys a painting by the world’s first Indigenous art star: Norval Morrisseau the self-taught, self-destructive Indigenous genius Chagall once dubbed “The Picasso Of The North,' creator of the Woodland School, one of three major strains of Indigenous art. Hearn begins to doubt his painting’s authenticity, and sues the gallery that sold it to him. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of two darkly comical feuding factions: all white people, each claiming to be the true defenders of this Native artist’s legacy. At stake is the value of a tranche of 3000 Morrisseau paintings worth some $30,000,000. The film traces the official provenance of Hearn’s painting, representative of this disputed species, finding only suspiciously dead ends. As Hearn’s court case proceeds, an almost-unbelievable new tale emerges about the origin of the paintings, turning the story several shades darker than art fraud.