The Sacramento Jewish Film Festival

in collaboration with

the Crocker Art Museum

will be showing

The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & the Art of Survival

on May 17, 2026 at 1:30pm.

Please share this special event with your community by clicking on the flyer below to download it for use in your print and digital promotions.

“I live life in the margins of society. The rules of normal society don’t apply to those who live on the fringe.” (Tamara De Lempicka)

Tamara De Lempicka & the Art of Survival is a visually stunning documentary that traces the life and survival of the renowned painter through her powerful paintings – from her rise to international stardom in 1920s Paris, to her move to the United States fleeing fascism in 1940, to her revival in the current art market.

The film follows this remarkable refugee as she reinvents herself multiple times, looking behind the veneer of the publicity she generated for herself and examining the bisexual, Jewish artist who embodied talent, resilience, passion, and a relentless pursuit of artistic freedom.

Join filmmakers Julie Rubio and Blake Wellen, co-producers at East Meets West Productions, LLC., for a post-film Q&A and Reception.

Over 19 years, writer-director-actor Rubio conducted in-depth interviews with Lempicka’s family, art historians, museum curators and Art Deco experts. The film reveals Lempicka’s true name and Jewish heritage for the first time, through newly-discovered birth and baptism certificates. 8mm home movies, plus her stunning drawings and paintings, depict Lempicka’s passionate relationships with both her male and female models. Collectors – including Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and Anjelica Huston – are featured in the film, as Lempicka’s popularity soars today; one painting recently sold at auction for over $21.1 million.