F for Fake

Forgery. Fraud. Magic. In F for Fake, a free-form sort-of documentary by Orson Welles, the legendary filmmaker and self-described charlatan gleefully reengages with the central preoccupation of his career: the tenuous lines between illusion and truth, art and lies. Beginning with portraits of the world-renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his equally devious biographer, Clifford Irving, Welles embarks on a dizzying journey that simultaneously exposes and revels in fakery and fakers of all stripes—not the least of whom is Welles himself. Charming and inventive, F for Fake is an inspired prank and a clever examination of the essential duplicity of cinema.

An inventive practitioner of cinematic magic, Welles was also a lifelong devotee of magic’s more traditional form. F for Fake will be preceded by a half-hour program in which Welles takes the stage as a magician.