While the compelling A Revolution on Canvas focuses a lot on claiming back Nicky Nodjoumi‘s art, what really grabs you is the strained relationship between him and his daughter (Sara Nodjoumi).

After an exhibition of Iranian artist Nicky Nodjoumi’s work in 1980 is declared critical of the regime, it is vandalised by Islamist radicals, and he is forced to flee Iran. Decades later, as protests erupt in Iran again, Nicky and his daughter Sara dive into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of more than 100 of his “treasonous” paintings.

With A Revolution on Canvas, we have a film that is part political thriller in the sequences where our filmmakers try and retrieve the hidden paintings of Nicky Nodjoumi from the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art that he had left behind. You become enthralled in its cloak-and-dagger nature as we are carried along for the ride. But that is only part of what directors Sara Nodjoumi and Till Schauder have up their sleeve. We get to hear from the man himself and learn more about why he left and what he felt his art represented of Iran at that time.

Again, you are engrossed in the proceedings and in Nodjoumi’s openness. He clearly had his eyes opened to what was going on, and from that second onwards, he could not close them and turn from it. However, the film really shines in the conversations between him and his daughter.

In Nicky’s world, he did what he could to try to change his country. To give those who needed a voice the voice they needed abroad. But in doing so, he tore apart his family. We see him paint and chat, and at times, it is a brutally uncomfortable watch. Sara wants some warmth from her father, maybe even to give a tinge of regret for abandoning his family for the cause. But the responses provided are as blunt as they are harsh. These moments could easily be a film all within itself, and perhaps that is one of the issues with the overall piece. There are a lot, even too many threads, trying to be woven together here as I have yet to cross upon the idea of art being vital to revolution as an aspect of the film.

The film just about keeps all three moving together without leaving you wanting more from each section, but barely. A Revolution on Canvas could easily run afoul of being too personal due to co-director Sara Nodjoumi’s relationship with Nicky. However, here, that closeness becomes an advantage to the film because we get to see the true man behind the art; he is a fascinating person to learn about.

In the end, A Revolution on Canvas captures and keeps your attention throughout its 95-minute runtime and does its job of showing us how powerful art can be as a means of change.

★★★

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