Past screening

Louis Theroux Presents: The Amazing Johnathan Documentary

Directed by: Ben Berman
Runtime: 1hr 31min Year: 2019
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Details

Directed by: Ben Berman
Runtime: 1hr 31min Year: 2019
Country: United States
Last Screened: Thu 5th Dec 2019

Subversive magician/comedian John Edward Szeles, AKA Amazing Johnathan, was given a year to live but is still with us three years later. Can you ever trust a magician, or for that matter, a non-fiction filmmaker?

“Opening with the disclaimer that “this film is based entirely on the available facts”, Ben Berman’s Untitled Amazing Johnathan Documentary is a film about subversive magician/comedian John Edward Szeles, AKA Amazing Johnathan, who was given a year to live but is still with us three years later.

Amazing Johnathan decides to do a farewell tour and it emerges that there are more people making documentaries about Johnathan, including an academy award-winning team: Berman has serious competition.

The sleight of hands and illusions that Johnathan creates are reflected in Berman’s twists and turns. Can you ever trust anything a magician does? Can you ever trust anything a nonfiction filmmaker puts forward as the whole truth? As Berman says, ‘You should be skeptical of every documentary you see.’”