Without Camille Pissarro, there is no Impressionist movement. He is rightfully known as the father of Impressionism. It was a dramatic path that Pissarro followed, and throughout it all he wrote extensively to his family. It is through these intimate and revealing letters that this gripping film reveals Pissarro’s life and work. Born in the West Indies, Pissarro found his passion in paint as a young man in Paris, and by the age of 43 had corralled a group of enthusiastic artists into a new collective. Their first show was scorned by the critics, but the group had acquired a new name: the Impressionists. For the next 40 years Pissarro was the driving force behind what has today become the world’s favourite artistic movement.

"Every time I begin an film project, I am filled with anticipation and excitement to discover something new about the artist I am exploring. Camille Pissarro is no different. Born a Danish citizen to a Jewish family on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, Pissarro became a dedicated family man, generous with his advice, passionate about experimentation, well-read, astute, socially aware and an anarchist. He was a great letter writer which is a gift for a documentary film maker as it gives an intimate insight into Pissarro’s thoughts about the world he lived in, the influence he had on other practitioners and his unerring approach to making art. I am grateful to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Kunstmuseum in Basel, who have been incredibly generous with access to their Pissarro exhibitions. It has given our cameras lots of time to linger on his work with great detail. The Ashmolean’s collection of works by Camille Pissarro is the largest in the world. It is difficult to identify Pissarro’s most famous work, but the one thing that has become apparent to me while making this film is that Pissarro’s distinctive and experimental depiction of the French countryside and Parisien streets defined what we now understand to be great impressionist painting." David Bickerstaff, Director

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