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Poster for F for Fake
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Released
1973 · FILM

F for Fake

A charismatic filmmaker dives into the glittering world of master forgers to expose the thin line between art and illusion, while battling his own obsession with truth in a maze of deceit that could shatter reputations forever.

“A magician is just an actor playing the part of a magician.”

Directed by
Orson Welles
Written by
Orson Welles
Rated
MPA · PG
Runtime
89 min
Language
FR
Documentary
Streaming on
  • The Criterion Channel

Synopsis

The film documents the lives of notorious forgers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid further prison time, gained notoriety by selling forged artworks attributed to painters such as Picasso and Matisse. Irving became well known for writing a fabricated autobiography of Howard Hughes. Orson Welles navigates between documentary and fiction as he explores the essential elements of deception and the individuals who perpetrate fraud at the expense of others.

Credits

Actors
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Director of Photography
Writers
Director

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 27

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Marie Sophie DubusShot by Francois ReichenbachScored by Michel Legrand

Also known as

  • F wie Fälschungde
  • F for Fakeen
  • Fraudees
  • Vérités et mensongesfr
  • F come falsoit

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