Documentary The Spoils paints gripping picture of stolen history

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This article was published 02/05/2025 (530 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Art is more than just colour on canvas — it is history, identity and, sometimes, a battlefield.

The Spoils, directed by Jamie Kastner, ventures into this battlefield, exploring the controversial cancellation of an exhibition honouring Max Stern, a Jewish art dealer whose collection was looted by the Nazis in 1937. At the heart of the film is the gripping struggle for restitution, a battle that continues to this day.

A one-time screening of The Spoils will be held on Saturday at the Cineplex McGillivray at 6:30 p.m.

Through interviews with stolen-art detectives, historians and museum officials, Kastner exposes the resistance to returning stolen artworks — particularly Wilhelm von Schadow’s The Artists’ Children (1830), a piece at the centre of this legal and ethical storm.

It is a tale of stolen history.

The exhibition honouring Max Stern at the Düsseldorf City Museum was originally set to open in 2018. Yet for three years, it remained trapped in bureaucratic limbo as discussions raged over the restitution of Nazi-looted artwork. This delay revealed the deeper tensions surrounding Holocaust-era art restitution — a topic often overshadowed by other aspects of historical justice.

Kastner, a Toronto-based filmmaker and writer, has long gravitated toward complex, multi-layered stories. His previous documentary, There Are No Fakes, examined the largest art fraud scam in Canada, involving legendary Indigenous painter Norval Morrisseau.

That film caught the attention of journalist and academic Sara Angel, who had covered the Max Stern restitution battle extensively. She saw The Spoils as the perfect project for Kastner’s investigative lens.

“When I learned about what Stern’s heirs were going through, I was astounded to see how fiercely the fight for Nazi-looted art was still being waged,” Kastner explains via email. “It wasn’t a simple case — it was filled with layers of legal battles, moral dilemmas and contemporary disputes that made it dramatically compelling.”

Stern, who died in 1987, was a towering figure in the Canadian art world. Fleeing Nazi Germany penniless, he was interned as an enemy alien during the war, but later rebuilt his life from nothing. His impact on Canadian art was immense — he represented sculptors Rodin and Henry Moore and gave Canadian painter Emily Carr her first major gallery exhibition.

“He was instrumental in creating a market for Canadian art when one hardly existed,” Kastner says. “There’s even a photo of him with Norval Morrisseau — the worlds of my films colliding.”

Kastner faced hurdles in telling the story.

“The biggest challenge was gaining access to key figures in Germany,” Kastner admits. “Some, like former Düsseldorf mayor Thomas Geisel, granted interviews immediately. Others, like the exhibition’s curator, Mr. Vorsteher, dodged me for years.”

Eventually, the breakthrough came when a second Max Stern exhibition was held — this time without Canadian or pro-restitution voices. The event forced previously elusive individuals to step into the spotlight, finally allowing Kastner to secure crucial interviews.

Beyond access issues, The Spoils faced another challenge: making such a dense, legally complex topic dramatic and engaging.

“I worked with immensely talented collaborators — editor Michael Hannan, composer Tom Third, and my producer, Laura Baron Kastner — to craft a film that was both clear and compelling.”

Is The Spoils a call to action? A historical exposé? Kastner resists narrowing the film’s purpose to a single message.

“I don’t make films with neatly packaged conclusions,” he says. “I prefer thorny political, historical and moral questions that don’t have easy answers.”

That said, he acknowledges the film’s underlying theme: justice never comes without a fight. “It’s astonishing how much debate surrounds the suffering of German Jews under the Nazis, even when we all know where it led. At the same time, these legal questions can’t simply be dismissed. They’re real, practical issues.”

It took him four years to make the film.

Production on The Spoils began in late 2019, with filming wrapping in 2023. The four-year journey was a test of patience, persistence and the ability to adapt to evolving narratives. “We had other films in production at the same time, but this one demanded a deep level of research and engagement,” Kastner says.

This is a documentary that forces reflection.

The Spoils is not just about a single art dealer — it is a microcosm of a greater historical reckoning.

“This isn’t just about Max Stern — it’s about the lingering ghosts of Nazi-looted art, the obstacles to justice and the uncomfortable questions that come with restitution,” Kastner says. The Spoils forces viewers to grapple with a past that refuses to stay buried.

As William Faulkner wrote in his novel Requiem for a Nun: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

arts@freepress.mb.ca