Matinee

Series/Themes: A Tribute to Orson Welles, Special Guests

Genre: Classics

Film Year: 1973

Locations: France/Iran/West Germany

Film Length: 89 min.

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Subtitles: Partially Subtitled

Director: Orson Welles.

Featuring: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving, François Reichenbach, Gary Graver.

After agreeing to edit François Reichenbach’s documentary about renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his biographer, Clifford Irving, Orson Welles joins forces with Reichenbach to create an intricate meditation on deceit, trickery, and art. Following de Hory’s rise from struggling artist to successful counterfeiter, it becomes clear that Irving too, has a history of deceit. Welles integrates his own relationship to fakery in the film, contemplating the inherent deception of cinema. Welles’ final film ties together numerous stories of trickery, creating a film that hangs in the balance between documentary and drama, truth and fiction. Discussion with filmmaker and guest programmer Allen Hughes, moderated by Wesley Harris (UVA)