“There Are No Fakes” Revelations of Indigenous exploitation, abuse and violence

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“There Are No Fakes is a journey into that darkness, and a brilliant exposé of how greed can corrupt a thing of beauty.” ~ John Ferri (TVO Vice President of Current Affairs and Documentaries)

Coming across this story must have felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Jamie Kastner, and as a filmmaker you live for these types of stories. On February 1^st, 2020, TVO presents the world broadcast premiere of TVO original “There Are No Fakes”. Filmmaker Jamie Kastner dives into the shadowy world of art fraud in Canada and brings into question the legacy of Anishinaabe artist and Canadian icon Norval Morrisseau with a 114-minute-long documentary about what is referred to as the largest art fraud scam in history.

Most people can agree that nothing is worse then buying something at top dollar, spending that hard-earned money, and finding out that you did not get what you paid for. This TVO original “There Are No Fakes” reveals a dark tale of Indigenous art fraud and explores the legacy of the Canadian artistic icon Norval Morrisseau. Attached closely to this story is Kevin Hearn from the Barenaked Ladies. The story begins with him buying a piece called “Spirit Energy of Mother Earth” from Maslak-McLeod Gallery. According to Kevin, when the painting was sold to him, he was led to believe that the piece was an original.

In his interview with CBC on January 31^st, 2020, Kevin explains how he was led to believe that the picture was real. He was shown the back where Morrisseau’s name was spelt in English. There was a little thunderbird on the back. He was told that the thunderbird was put on a painting if Norval thought it was really special. Naturally, Kevin was very proud of his art piece until he found out that it was a fake. He did his own investigation, which shone light on some controversial facts.

The Ontario Court of Appeal ended up siding with Hearn and awarded him $60,000. Why was this their decision? According to the CBC Report (January 31^st, 2020), it was on the grounds that the gallery had been deliberately elusive in proving that the painting was real. Kevin saw this as being less about the money, and more about doing what is right.

So why watch this documentary? Well, what starts out as a story about art fraud, evolves into revelations of Indigenous exploitation, abuse and violence. Documentary watchers will have a chance to hear the actual stories, experience some jaw-dropping moments, some amusing, and some horrifying. Through all of this, a forgery ring is also discovered, and arrests were made after the filming of the documentary.

This amazing team consists of some remarkable film artists:

• Jamie Kastner: He is the Director/Producer of the documentary, and he specializes in the genre of unique, uncommon feature documentaries. His films have been featured at TIFF and Hot Docs.
• Laura Baron Kastner: She is the Producer and is known for her keen eye for technical detail and precision. Her focus is on feature documentaries.
• Mark Anthony Jacobson: This self-taught aboriginal artist (referred to as a master woodland artist) is the Executive Producer.
• Michael Hannan: Michael comes with 20 years of editing experience. Under his belt he has a Gemini Award, a Canadian Screen Award Nomination, and a Best Editing in a Documentary Program Nomination.
• Kevin Hearn: Unintentionally became involved in the situation but is best known as a multi-instrumentalist from Barenaked Ladies.
• Derek Rogers: With 29 years in the field, Cinematographer Derek Rogers has worked in documentary, TV, movies and commercials.
• Cave 7 Productions: This Toronto-based production company specializes in unique feature documentary films. They have appeared on BBC, Bravo and TVO.

If you don’t get a chance to watch this riveting documentary on Februar 1^st, “There Are No Fakes” will be shown again on February 3^rd and February 5^th. This one is for the art lovers. NO fakes round here!