The Cult of JT LeRoy (2014)

Mystique is often purposefully built around artists and their work, and sometimes to the degree of great extremes.

The Cult of JT LeRoy (2014) is a documentary directed by Marjorie Sturm. As a teenager, JT LeRoy wrote some very vivid accounts concerning the neglect he suffered in the hands of his mother, their drug abuse, prostitution and homelessness. Inescapably, his books Sarah and The Heart Is Deceitful Above all Things affected nearly everyone who read them. The documentary explores the rest of the story, including the cult following of JT LeRoy.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) is a film ultimately directed by Banksy. An amateur filmmaker sets out to capture a documentary about the world-renowned graffiti artist (Banksy). In a turn of events, the focus is reversed. As Banksy put it himself, “It’s basically the story of how one man set out to film the unfilmable. And failed.”

Big Eyes (2014)

Big Eyes (2014) is directed by Tim Burton. This is a true story about the artist Margaret Keane and her enterprising husband, Walter Keane. Big Eyes refers to her whimsical style of exaggerating the eyes in paintings of children, a feature which was a novelty at the time.