OPENING FRIDAY, APRIL 21, AT CINEMA VILLAGE IN MANHATTAN… 

Long-time Carroll Gardens resident Susannah Ludwig produced 

STOLEN, a documentary that brings to light the fascinating story behind the largest museum heist in American history. STOLEN won the audience award at the 2005 Sarasota Film Festival & the best documentary award at the New York Avignon Film Festival. Ms. Ludwig has worked on several other critically acclaimed films, as well as six behind-the-scenes documentaries for American Movie Classics and the Independent Film Channel. She is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Long Island University where she teaches documentary film production. 

In 1990, in the early morning hours after St. Patrick’s day, thieves disguised as policemen gained access into Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner museum and successfully executed the largest art heist in modern history. Among the thirteen priceless works stolen was Vermeer’s “The Concert” one of only 35 of the masters surviving works. To date, not a single work has been recovered.

STOLEN is a full exploration of this unusual crime and the fascinating, disparate characters involved: from the 19th century Grand Dame Isabella Gardner to the 17th century Dutch masters to a 21st century terrorist organization with a penchant for stealing Vermeers.

At the heart of the film, is the unlikely hero Harold Smith, the renowned art detective. STOLEN follows Mr. Smith as he pursues the mystery of the stolen works. Despite his lifetime battle with skin cancer, the cunning and witty Smith has made this case his personal obsession, working with what hope remains. With Mr. Smith as a guide STOLEN journeys into the mysterious and surreal world of stolen art and examines the many possibilities as to where the art might be.

Interwoven with Smith’s investigation are noted contemporary authors discussing the power of Vermeer’s work, as well as collector Isabella Stewart Gardner’s turn-of-the-century correspondence (read by Blythe Danner) with her advisor Bernard Berenson (read by Campbell Scott.) These subplots give the film a larger context and help illuminate just what the world has lost.

Directed by Rebecca Dreyfus, produced by Susannah Ludwig. 

For more information: www.stolenthefilm.com 

To read more about Vermeer & the art world: 

Fiction: 

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier 

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland 

The Music Lesson by Katherine Weber 

Chasing Vermeer & The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett (for middle readers) 

Non-fiction: 

Rescue Artist by Edward Dolnick 

Irish Game by Matthew Hart 

Art of the Steal by Christopher Mason 

Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Cynthia Saltzman 

Vermeer in Bosnia by Lawrence Weschler