Dalí Foundation against biopic set to be screened at Toronto film festival
Surrealist painter's heir might "take legal action" against movie premiering this month
The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí is against 'Dalíland', a biopic telling the story of the world-famous Catalan surrealist artist due to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this month.
The organization says it administers the legacy and rights of Dalí and "has not given its go-ahead" nor has it been able to watch the film "in order to exercise its functions as the entity responsible for protecting the work and image of the painter."
With Ben Kingsley starring as the Catalan genius, the film is directed by Mary Harron and produced by Pressman Film and Zephyr Films.
Yet, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí said in a statement released on Tuesday that it has tried to get in touch with the producers "in order to regularize rights" but has not received a response.
The text also reads that it may "take legal action in order to safeguard" the artist's reputation.
Catalan News has so far been unable to contact the film's producers or the film festival, whose website still states that there will be press screenings of 'Dalíland' on September 11 and 12 and that its world premiere will take place at the event's closing gala on September 17 at the Canadian city's Roy Thomson Hall.
'Dalíland', the story of Dalí's later years
"'Dalíland' tells the story of the later years of the strange and fascinating marriage between the genius Salvador Dalí and his wife, Gala, as their seemingly unshakable bond begins to stress and fracture," reads the film description on the festival's website.
"Set in New York and Spain in 1973, the story is told through the eyes of James, a young assistant keen to make his name in the art world, who helps the eccentric and mercurial Dalí prepare for a big gallery show."
Ben Kingsley is joined in the cast by Barbara Sukowa as Gala, Ezra Miller as young Dalí, and Christopher Briney as James.