“I made 50 trips to Russia. I usually could spend $100,000 in a week.”
Lost Art Trailer
When the Soviet Union collapses an enterprising art teacher imports thousands of Russian paintings to rural Tennessee; now, facing his own mortality, the fate of the collection hangs in the balance.
The Story.
The documentary takes the audience on a tour of the mysterious gallery in Tennessee to find out the value of the paintings, and the journeys the art dealer took to obtain them.
The Character.
Bob Garren, an eccentric art dealer, guides the narrative revealing bit-by-bit the history of the art and the risks he took to acquire it.
The Collection.
An art appraiser leads us to an abandoned school house filled with thousands of pieces of Russian art. The collection spans decades of forgotten Russian history.
Should decades of Russian cultural wealth sit abandoned in rural Tennessee or should it be in a museum?
“One trip I bought 700 paintings. You have to be very careful. ”
— Bob Garren
Director’s Statement
A friend told me about thousands of Russian paintings tucked away in an abandoned school in the countryside of Tennessee. When I met Bob, the owner of the collection, I was hooked. Was this an art heist? My inner Sherlock Holmes kicked in — I had to keep pulling on the story thread and see where it led.
Credits
Directed by Leif Ramsey
Produced by Pathfinder Films
Executive Producer Lakmini Ramsey
Producer Derek Peters
Associate Producers Good to Go Media, Fred Cornforth, Tanya Musgrave Original Score by Daniel Cooper
Director of Photography David George
Editor Madelyn Rogers
Assistant Camera / 2nd Unit DP Chris Stiles
Featuring Robert Garren, Ruth Garren, Pamela Kachurin, Daud Akhriev, Melissa Hefferlin, Dmitriy Proshkin
Archival Footage Sundial Entertainment Inc
Special Thanks Dillan Forsey, Robert Garren Gallery