The Writer with No Hands
The Writer with No Hands | |
---|---|
Directed by | William Westaway |
Starring |
Claudia Christian David L. Robb Haskell Wexler Wendy Oates Matthew Alford |
Music by | Andy Nunn, Ian Kellett |
Running time | 86 mins |
Country | United Kingdom |
The Writer with No Hands is a documentary film that follows a British academic as he attempts to prove that Hollywood screenwriter Gary Devore was the victim of a forced disappearance by the CIA in 1997.[1] A fine cut premiered at Hot Docs in April 2014 but a final version has not emerged commercially.
Critical response
The Writer with No Hands received generally good reviews at festivals. D Magazine included it in its top ten films at the Dallas Videofest[2] and it won the Tablet of Honor at the Ammar Popular Film Festival.[3] Consensus held that the mystery elements of the film were "compelling" and "intriguing".
More contentious was the way the story was told. Black Sheep thought that its unconventional approach made the film "as beguiling as the mystery it is trying to solve", whilst Dorkshelf called it a "sour" and "dubious" product "that borders on unethical despite being self-aware" [4]
Cinestyle summarised: "I wouldn’t want to be [director] Westaway’s friend (or enemy!)... This documentary is riveting".[5]
References
- ↑ "Review: Pretty Clever Films, 16th April 2014". Prettycleverfilms.com. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
- ↑ D-Magazine, 10 Films You Should See at This Year’s Dallas Video Festival, 8 October, http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2014/10/10-films-you-should-see-at-this-years-dallas-video-festival/
- ↑ http://en.ammarfilm.ir/news.php?id=43 Winners Announced
- ↑ Brown, Phil (April 21, 2014). "Hot Docs 2014: The Writer with No Hands Review". Dork Shelf. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014.
- ↑ Review: Cinestyle: http://www.cineinstyle.com/?tag=gary-devore