F for Fake

Synopsis
Orson Welles’ quizzical homage to forgery and illusion - a journey through trickery, magic and deception which includes portrats of art forger Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving, author of a hoax Howard Hughes autobiography. The film also features Joseph Cotton, Laurence Harvey and stories about Welles’ relationship with Yugoslav actress Oja Kodar, whose grandfather was a Picasso forger. Also looks at Welles’ own ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘Citizen Kane’. Welles shows how any two pieces of film can be spliced together to produce meaning - and that meaning need have no particular relation to reality. Along the way he debunks critics and other ‘experts’ who assign themselves the right to judge questions of authenticity, authorship and value. Mostly, though, he stresses that all art is founded on principles of illusion.
Language
English
Country
Germany
Medium
Video; Videocassette. VHS. b&w/col. 88 min.
Year of production
1973
Availability
Sale; 1996 sale: £12.99 (inclusive)
Notes
Released on video in 1996.
Subjects
Media studies
Keywords
deception; documentary films; film and video production techniques; Welles, Orson (1916-1985)

Credits

Director
Orson Welles
Writer
Oja Kodar; Orson Welles
Contributor
Orson Welles

Production Company

Name

France

Name

Frankfurt, West Germany

Name

Iran

Distributor

Name

BFI Video

Email
video.films@bfi.org.uk
Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7957 8957
Fax
020 7957 8968
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
 

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