History-obsessed Randy Schoenberg (memorably portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in Woman in Gold) brings his reluctant teenage son Joey along for the journey of a lifetime, through Europe and the centuries, to reclaim 500 years of their family story. Along the way, they encounter kings, mystics, and a false messiah — as well as numerous ordinary and extraordinary people who witnessed Europe’s tumultuous past. And the relationship between father and son is forever changed. Randy is renowned for recovering Nazi-looted art, but his greatest achievement might just be reuniting the fractured and scattered shards of his own family. Filmed on location across Austria, Czech Republic, and Italy, Fioretta is “a meditative and intensely visual exploration…[filmmaker] Matthew Mishory reveals what history hides.” – Film Threat
Run time: 2 hours, 7 minutes
The screening will be followed by a talkback with Joey Schoenberg and Lucian Simmons.
Joey Schoenberg is currently studying at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and has been cooking since the age of eight years old. Cooking has always been his passion. In the summer before his senior year of high school he started an internship at Citrin and Melisse (1 and 2 Michelin Stars respectively) in Santa Monica, CA. After graduating from high school, he interned at the Harbor House Inn (2 Michelin Stars) in Elk, CA for the summer. This past summer, he interned at Steirereck (22nd best restaurant in the world, 2 Michelin Stars) in Vienna, Austria. Although cooking is his main focus in life, family has always been central in his upbringing. He is proud of the family that he comes from and the people who he has had the pleasure of meeting thus far in his life.
Lucian Simmons is the head of provenance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was called to the Bar in 1984 and later re-qualified as a Solicitor. He was a litigation partner in the London City Law Firm of Barlow, Lyde and Gilbert and specialised in legal malpractice defence work with a focus on trusts and estates and on white collar crime. Lucian is on the roll as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Before joining the Met, Lucian was Vice Chairman of Sotheby’s North America, Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Restitution Department and a Senior Specialist in Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department. He joined Sotheby’s in 1995 and was instrumental in establishing the auction house’s worldwide compliance programme. Lucian started Sotheby’s provenance research and restitution department in 1997 and drove the resolution of legal and ethical claims against artworks that subsequently sold for more than $1 billion in aggregate. He worked extensively with art collectors and their advisors throughout North America and Europe in the acquisition and deaccession of fine and decorative art, predominantly in the Contemporary and Modern fields. Mr. Simmons has spoken widely on art market issues and in particular on the displacement of art during WWII. Mr. Simmons has been interviewed on the subject on television and radio and has appeared in a number of film documentaries. He gives regular seminars at universities and law schools across North America. He also speaks on the history of collecting and on ceramics and fine art.