Long Synopsis

In one blazing stroke, Attila Richard Lukacs established “bad-boy” celebrity at the highest levels of the international art world. After living and painting successfully for 10 years in Berlin, it was time to take on the New York art scene - New York however, had other ideas. By unearthing Attila's past and reflecting on the events leading to his last days in the Big 'rotten' Apple, director David Vaisbord takes us on a journey to the dark side where Drawing Out the Demons is a matter of life and death.

Nearly 5 years in the making, and incorporating footage spanning 19 years, one can say with unusual literalness that Drawing Out the Demons is about an artist's journey. For most of the 1990's Attila worked in Berlin, where he lived a wild lifestyle amongst Berlin's gay underground. Youthful, handsome, and with a clear sense of purpose, he followed his career to where it could grow. By 1996 he had garnered substantial critical acclaim in Canada and Europe for his vast homoerotic canvasses of neo-Nazi skinheads, mischievous monkeys and wet-lipped military youth. He was ready to take on New York in a big way. His large paintings were commanding hefly sums. Artistically and financially, he was ready to conquer the biggest art scene in the world. Attila strode into New York City and rented an enormous studio in the trendy meatpacking district. The cavernous studio was as lofty as Attila's ambitions, and as expensive as his tastes.

Director David Vaisbord began filming Attila in 1999, at Attila's hugely successful one-man "Arbor Vitae" show at the Diane Farris Gallery in Vancouver. David continued to follow Attila through 2000, and shot his one-man show "The Secrets of my Garden" at the Phyllis Kind Gallery (his New York dealer since 1995) in New York's trendy Soho district, but less than a year later, it was clear that New York was not working out for him. He had lost control of his life and had entered a downward spiral of self-destruction.

The film opens in August of 2001, during the harrowing last days of Attila's life in New York. The filmmaker arrives to interview the artist during the evacuation of his studio, only to discover a gaunt, twitchy ghost - a shocking contrast to the youthful, soft-spoken cherub of art school days. A creative zombie, Attila is consumed with the mammoth task of packing up his studio. Patrik Schedler (Attila's exclusive worldwide dealer) has arrived from Zurich with a couple of men, to help catalogue the hundreds of art works lodged in the space, but the studio also contains thousands of relics and mementos from his life. Attila clings desperately to these objects from his past, including found "art" from the streets of New York, and packing foam from previous sculptural works. It is all but garbage to the casual observer, yet to Attila, this is precious junk; any one of these countless objects may hold a secret inspiration to kick-start his vanquished creative powers.

As Attila's state of mind worsens, a huge cast of extras assembles to assist in the move. Attila's mother, the movers, his friends, his partner, and the filmmaker, all lend a hand to the strangely absurd yet vitally important task of preserving Attila's things. The studio is like the mind of the artist himself; fragmented, piled-up and chaotic. Perhaps it is only through the help of loved ones that peace may be restored. They are not just moving his studio, they are saving his life, and through it all Attila orchestrates the mob. His hand (which he broke while punching a wall) is bound in a filthy cast - he waves it like a conductor's baton in an opera of the damned.

The chronology of the film shifts between periods of Attila's life - art school at Emily Carr, his heyday in Berlin, the trials of growing up - allowing the viewer to reflect on the events that have led Attila to this perilous condition. By cutting to the past, the filmmaker provides contrast between Attila at happier stages of his life and the misery of his exit from New York. The film, however, does not end in the Big Apple. Attila's life continues to shift along a series of unexpected twists and turns, each one a journey into a new mental and physical landscape.

A powerful, dominant element of this story is the relationship between Attila and his parents. His distraught mother has provided emotional support to the artist his entire life from "coming out" to moving out. His father, the patriarch, has given financial support and patronage; a means for Attila to purchase the lavish materials, such as gold leaf, that go onto his enormous canvasses, and to pay the rent for his New York studio. Patrik Schedler his art dealer, perceptively comments that without the intense relationship between Attila and his parents, "he wouldn't be that artist he is, even maybe he would be another person."

One look at Attila's suburban "Baroque" upbringing and you gain some insight to the source of his imagination and inspiration. From a talented youth obsessed by the act of painting to a wasted wreck in New York, the liberation at the end of this story is that, while his parents remain vitally important, Attila begins to unravel his own relationship with himself.

Additional insights come from Angela Grossman, one of Attila's closest and oldest friends. An artist herself, she offers a frank, clear-eyed observation of Attila, yet is sympathetic too. Robert Enright, art critic and editor-at-large for the acclaimed Canadian art journal "Border Crossings" gives both his professional and personal perspective to Attila's art and life. Finally, Scott Watson, Attila's earliest supporter (as director of the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1985 he curated the "Young Romantics" show that launched Attila's career) shares his opinions on both the old and new works by this most prolific of artists.

Drawing Out the Demons is the first feature-length documentary to fully delve into Lukacs' art and life. With unparalleled access and the active participation of the artist, the film is an uncensored and highly original work that offers a glimpse into Attila's mysterious personality, and brings the audience face-to-face with one of the most gifted painters alive today.

Key Crew

David Vaisbord: Writer/Director  
David Vaisbord’s passion for filmmaking began at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in the mid 1980’s, where incidentally, he first viewed the paintings of Attila Richard Lukacs.

David’s first feature documentary was MISCHA, a six-year project, investigating the tragic life of a violin prodigy, and virtuoso – his Uncle Mischa.  Produced by the NFB and broadcast on the CBC, the doc won several awards and honours including a Gold Apple from the National Educational Media Network, best director (AMTEC) and a nomination for Best Arts Documentary at Hot Docs ‘97.

JUICY DANGER MEETS BURNING MAN, was a manic road trip by two of Canada’s most “extreme” cabaret performers to the hallucinatory Burning Man Festival.  Broadcast by CTV, TVO and BRAVO!  Winner - Special Jury Prize at the 1998 Golden Sheaf Awards.

BRITANNIA BEACH, revealed a hidden community surviving under the shadow of North America’s worst source of heavy metals pollution.  Produced by Screen Siren Pictures and the NFB, and broadcast on TVO and CTV, it was nominated Best Documentary at the 2002 Golden Sheaf Awards.   A shorter version of the film under a different name:  BRITANNIA: A COMPANY TOWN was edited for an educational market, and is distributed by the NFB.

DRAWING OUT THE DEMONS is David’s first feature-length documentary.  A 48-minute television version will be broadcast on BRAVO! and TVO in 2004.   

Upcoming projects include a one hour docu-drama entitled DARK PINES, with Laughing Mountain Pictures and BRAVO! about legendary Canadian painter/woodsman Tom Thomson, slated for production in the summer of 2004.  

David is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, speaks fluent French, and resides in Vancouver with wife Sheril Gelmon and young daughter Madeleine.

Trish Dolman: Producer  
Producer/Director Trish Dolman is the founder of Screen Siren Pictures Inc. and has been working in film and television for over ten years. In 2001/2002 Trish produced the award-winning feature film Flower & Garnet, directed by Keith Behrman for CBC, TMN, Movie Central, Odeon Films and Alliance Atlantis. Flower & Garnet has screened at numerous international film festivals including Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Berlin (Panorama Special Section).  Flower & Garnet was released by Odeon films in Canada in 2003 and ran in Vancouver theatres for over eleven weeks. The film has won several awards including: the Claude Jutra Award for Best Direction of a First Feature Film at the 2003 Genie Awards,  Best Canadian Feature Film at the Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival and Vancouver Critics' Circle Awards for Best Canadian Picture, Director and Actor, as well as seven Leo Awards.

She has produced and/or directed for such broadcasters as the BBC, CBC, CTV, TVO, Movie Central, TMN, W, the Discovery Channel, Vision TV, Knowledge Network and SCN. Prior to Flower & Garnet, Trish produced, wrote and directed the documentary Ice Girls, a feature-length Canada-UK co-production for the BBC and CTV that was nominated for Best Sports Program at the Banff TV Festival and received 3 Leo awards.  She also just completed directing the BC Film / NFB "Picture This" documentary short Exit Kingsway.  Her producing credits include: Britannia Beach for the NFB, TVO, SCN and the Knowledge Network, The Friendship Village for Vision and History (Executive Producer) and Drawing Out The Demons: A film about the Artist Attila Richard Lukacs for Bravo! and TVO.  Currently she is developing several documentaries including Paul Watson: EcoPirate for The Documentary Channel, Campus Spies for History Television, Girl Racers (4x 1hrs) for Global Television.  On the dramatic side, she is producing a feature-length adaptation of a play entitled The Score for CBC and several feature films including Keith Behrman's next feature, Guided By Wire.

In 2003, Trish was the youngest ever winner of the Woman of the Year award from Women in Film and Video Vancouver. She is also an active member of the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), the Canadian Film and Television Producer's Association (CFTPA) and Women in Film and Video Vancouver (WIFVV), and she volunteers for Lion's Bay Search and Rescue. 

Stephanie Symns: Producer  
Stephanie Symns is a Producer at Screen Siren Pictures.  She recently completed Director David Vaisbord’s documentary Drawing Out The Demons about the infamous painter Attila Richard Lukacs, with licenses from Bravo! and TVOntario which has its world premiere at Hot Docs on April 30th, 2004 at the Royal Cinema.  She was Associate Producer of Keith Behrman’s award-winning debut feature Flower & Garnet and in 2002 she also produced Unravel, a five-minute short directed by Claudia Molina with Bravo!Fact and NFB funding, which was subsequently acquired by the CBC for ZeD and screened at numerous international festivals.  In 2001 she co-produced Claudia Morgado’s 35mm short film Bitten.  She is currently in development on a number of projects including Reservation Soldiers, a one-hour documentary taking an inside look at the boot-camp clash between native and military cultures, and has just commenced pre-production on Girl Racers, a 4 x 1 hour documentary series on North America’s leading female racecar drivers for Global Television. 

Following a career in corporate management within the industrial and telecommunications sectors in New Zealand, Australia and London, Stephanie immigrated to Canada and put her business experience to work on a variety of projects at Screen Siren in 2000.  She became a partner in Screen Siren Pictures in 2002. 

 Stephanie earned her Bachelor of Management Studies (Hons) at the University of Waikato, New Zealand in 1992.  She is a member of Women in Film and Video Vancouver and has previously served on the Board of the BC Chapter of the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC).  She is also a member of the Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Co-operative and the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association.

Brian Johnson: Director of Photography  
Born and raised on the prairies of Alberta, Brian left the farm at the tender age of seventeen in order to study communications at the University of Calgary. After completing his Bachelor of Arts he went on to study film in the BFA program at Simon Fraser University. Since then, Brian has received numerous awards and accolades for his work as a cinematographer and as a director. His short films, including Cascadia and the half hour documentary Water Witch, have been broadcast and included in competition in numerous festivals such as the Clairmont Ferrand International Short Film Festival. He has won two Golden Sheaf awards for his work as a cinematographer, and has shot a number of feature films including Bruce Spangler’s Protection. Brian gets a more immediate creative fix as a member of the Truth Channel an ongoing collective of musicians and experimental filmmakers working in the emerging forms of multimedia installation and performed cinema. He likes cookies and British racing green.

Jeanne Slater: Editor and Co-writer  
A California native, Jeanne attended UCLA and completed a B.A. in World Arts and Cultures before getting her M.F.A. in Film and Television Production.  She fell in love with Vancouver while hanging out on the set of Laura Lansing Slept Here directed by George Schaefer, her UCLA advisor.  Never an early riser or a sharp dresser, Jeanne realized that editing might be her best film career path.  Starting as a trailer editor in LA, she moved onto documentaries and dramas after relocating to Vancouver and has edited shows that range from Kink II to Pretty Boys.   In addition to editing, she has post-supervised many television series and most recently, The Corporation.

John Korsrud: Composer  
John Korsrud is a composer, trumpet player and bandleader. John has had works commissioned by The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, The CBC Radio Orchestra, The Albany Symphony New Music Festival, The Vancouver New Music Society as well as numerous Dutch ensembles and Vancouver dance companies. Drawing Out The Demons is John's second score for film. His first, Heroines, earned him Leo and Golden Sheaf Awards and a Juno Nomination. In 1990 John formed his 17-piece Hard Rubber Orchestra, an ensemble that has released two CDs and has toured to Europe and across Canada. As a trumpet player John has performed with international artists such as George Lewis, Butch Morris, Barry Guy, Kenny Wheeler, Han Bennink, and The Duke Ellington Orchestra. John graduated from UBC in 1990 and studied composition with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague (1995-1997). In 2001 John was awarded The Canada Council’s Joseph S. Stauffer Prize for Music, Literature and Visual Arts and in 2003 was awarded a fellowship to the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbria, Italy. John has also produced several large multi-media shows, the most recent being The Ice Age: The World's First New Music Ice Show at Kerrisdale Arena in 2000.

348 East 40th Ave, Vancouver, BC, Canada V5W 1L9
Telephone/Fax: 604.731.6990
vaisbord (at) telus (dot) net