“For as long as I can remember, I’ve seen the world through my camera. But no motif has caught my eye as she did,” asserts filmmaker Lea Glob about young French painter Apolonia Sokol. Apolonia, who grew up in Paris with eccentrically bohemian parents, invites Lea into her tumultuous life and allows her to film anything and everything. As Lea and the free-spirited Apolonia grow their friendship over 13 years, we follow the determined painter as she struggles to make ends meet by carving out her artistic identity in portraits while facing pushback, rejections, and scrutiny from art world critics. Apolonia confides in Lea and trusts the filmmaker to capture her vulnerabilities while she also seeks solace in her friendship with Oksana, a Ukrainian model and activist who, like Apolonia, is a restless soul figuring out how to proactively contribute to society and be an active creative force.

Lea Glob’s striking documentary conveys deep truths and raw emotional transparency in its warts-and-all exploration of a struggling artist. With freewheeling camerawork and strategically poignant narration, Glob’s soulful and unfiltered storytelling crafts a memorable personal film that generates intimacy and authenticity rarely expressed with such dynamism.––Jose Rodriguez

Lea Glob