F for Fake
A magician is just an actor playing the part of a magician.
Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.
- Genre: Documentary
- Studio: SACI, Les Films de l'Astrophore, Janus Film und Fernsehen
- Keyword: artist, manipulation, illusion, deception, ibiza, essay film, forgery, forger, trickery
- Cast: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving, Laurence Harvey, Edith Irving
