Directed by Suzanne Raes (Netherlands, 2023, 78 min.).

Much has been written but little is known about Johannes Vermeer, the artist behind iconic paintings such as The Milkmaid and Girl with a Pearl Earring. His existing body of work—fewer than 40 paintings—is almost everything he left behind. This documentary follows Gregor Weber, a globally renowned Vermeer expert and exuberant curator at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In the year before he retires, Weber works on his big dream: the largest Vermeer exhibition ever. Together with a number of Vermeer enthusiasts and experts, the curator goes in search of what truly makes a Vermeer a Vermeer. Through new discoveries and by dissecting the artist’s work layer by layer, Close to Vemeer brings us closer to the painter to understand the decisions he made in creating his magnificent oeuvre.

Watch the trailer.