Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers Showing FREE on June 20 at San Juan and Lopez Libraries
Join the Friday Harbor Film Festival for a captivating Best of the Fest screening of Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers, followed by a special live-streamed Q&A with award-winning producer Phil Grabsky. The screening begins at 7 pm on Friday, June 20 at the libraries on San Juan and Lopez Islands.
This powerful documentary that had its world premiere at Friday Harbor Film Festival in October 2024, brings to life the dramatic final years of Vincent van Gogh. Using his personal letters and set against the backdrop of the UK’s largest-ever Van Gogh exhibition at The National Gallery, this film offers a fresh lens on the misunderstood master—his art, his passion, and the stories that fueled his creative genius.
Directed by David Bickerstaff and produced by Phil Grabsky, the film reveals how poets, lovers, and symbolic figures filled Van Gogh’s imagination and canvases during his years in the south of France—just as his mental health began to unravel. The result is a poetic, emotionally rich portrait of one of history’s most iconic artists.
Details are available at fhff.org.
Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers
Van Gogh is not only one of the most beloved artists of all time but perhaps the most misunderstood. This film uses Van Gogh’s revealing letters to better understand this iconic figure. The most exciting and dramatic period of Van Gogh’s life is explored on the big screen.
200 years after its opening and a century after acquiring its first Van Gogh works the National Gallery is hosting the UK’s biggest ever Van Gogh exhibition. This film, made in close collaboration with the National Gallery, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibition and helps audiences better understand the iconic artist's unique creative process.
Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers explores the artist’s years in the south of France, where he revolutionized his style. Van Gogh became consumed with a passion for storytelling in his art, turning the world around him into vibrant, idealized spaces and symbolic characters. The film explores how his desire to tell stories produced a landscape of poetic imagination and romantic love, and how this obsession in part caused his notorious breakdown.
Poets and lovers filled his imagination. Everything he did in the south of France served this new obsession. In part, this is what caused his notorious breakdown, but it didn’t hold back his creativity as he created masterpiece after masterpiece. Explore one of art history’s most pivotal periods in this once-in-a-century show.
The Best of the Fest Series Schedule
Each month through September Best of the Fest presents award-winning documentaries along with Q&As with the films’ directors and subjects. Programs begin at 7 pm. They are offered in collaboration with the San Juan Island Library, the San Juan Island Grange, and the Lopez Island Library. Since they’re on Fridays, they are a great “date night” activity.
Resident Orca – Special Event on July 16 at SJCT
A Dream Takes Flight – August 22 (Grange/Lopez Library)
Hvaldimir – September 12 (SJI Library/Lopez Library)
Mark your calendar for FH Film Festival October 23-26!
Details about all of the Best of the Fest films are available on the fhff.org website. FHFF appreciates the sponsorship of The Journal of the San Juan Islands! Mark your calendar and plan to view the exceptional Best of the Fest documentaries on either San Juan or Lopez Islands!
