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"No matter how smart or how well-educated you are, you CAN be deceived."
Director Justin Weinstein (co-writer for Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, MIFF 2011) profiles noted sceptic James "The Amazing" Randi and his decades-long crusade to expose charlatans, phoney psychics and con-men faith healers.
Acknowledged by some as a successor to Harry Houdini and the unofficial public nemesis of Uri Geller, the autodidactic Randi gained notoriety as an illusionist and escape artist until injury curtailed his performing career. Well known thanks to his tours with Alice Cooper and appearances on TV shows such as Happy Days, he was a master deceiver who created fictional characters, fake psychics, and even turned his partner of 25 years, the artist Jose Alvarez, into a sham guru named ‘Carlos' – all in the name of exposing those preying on the public.
Examining the borderline between truth and trickery, An Honest Liar interviews luminaries of deceit, such as Penn & Teller and Adam Savage, and presents archival footage to uncover a stunning personal revelation that will leave you wondering if Randi is still the deceiver or, indeed, the deceived.
"Comprehensive and fascinating … an engaging and entertaining portrait of a man who is paradoxically a likeable and honest liar out to set the record straight." – The Film Stage