Film Lens
It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles focuses on Orson Welles's incomplete anthology film, which was intended to feature three stories about Latin America. The segments include 'My Friend Bonito,' directed by Norman Foster in Mexico in 1941, and 'Carnaval' and 'Jangadeiros,' both directed by Welles in Brazil in 1942. The documentary presents the context of the film's production, including the collaboration between Welles and Richard Wilson, and the eventual termination of the project by RKO Radio Pictures.
The documentary also addresses the fate of the film's footage, noting that approximately 200,000 feet of Technicolor nitrate was discarded in the Pacific Ocean in the late 1960s or 1970s. It shows the discovery of a cache of black-and-white nitrate negative in the 1980s, with an inventory in 2000 indicating that around 50,000 feet had been preserved, while 130,045 feet remained deteriorating and unpreserved.
Why Watch
- •See Orson Welles's unfinished Latin American stories.
- •Find out about the lost footage of It's All True.
- •Meet the filmmakers who revived Welles's project.
Did You Know
•Orson Welles's film was shot between 1941 and 1942 but never completed.
•Approximately 200,000 feet of footage was dumped into the Pacific Ocean.
•In 2000, an inventory showed 50,000 feet of the film had been preserved.
Perfect For
Orson Welles fansFilm history enthusiastsDocumentary lovers