“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.’”
The screening on Tue 19 Nov will be followed by a live satellite Q&A with director Ben Berman and Louis Theroux.