The Writer with No Hands

The Writer with No Hands
Directed by William Westaway
Starring Claudia Christian
John Irvin
Haskell Wexler
Music by Lorenzo Tomio
Production
company
Drum Roll Films
Release date
  • 27 June 2017 (2017-06-27)
Running time
 71 minutes; 55 minutes (TV)

The Writer with No Hands is a 2017 British documentary film, which follows academic Matthew Alford as he tries to establish that the accidental death of Hollywood screenwriter Gary Devore was actually an assassination by the US government.

The finished film was screened at independent venues worldwide on 27 June 2017 to mark the twentieth anniversary of Devore’s fate and it subsequently sold to Norway's VGTV and New Zealand's Rialto Channel. An alternative 86 minute fine cut had premiered at Hot Docs as early as 2014 but was pulled from the festival circuit at the end of that year and never distributed.[1]

Background

On Friday 27 June 1997, Gary Devore had been driving home after completing a new film script. He was last seen at a Denny's diner in the Mojave Desert around 1:00 on the morning of the 28th. The subsequent manhunt remained unsuccessful until July 1998 when an amateur detective located fragments of Devore’s car next to the California Aqueduct near Palmdale.

The California Highway Patrol’s investigation concluded that Devore must have driven against oncoming traffic along the highway, crashed into the water and drowned in his vehicle.[2]

The project's title refers to reports that Devore’s hands were detached from the body and had initially been left undiscovered in his car.[3]

Production

In an accompanying book and audiobook, Alford characterised the filmmaking process as highly erratic. Although he produced the 2014 version of the documentary he was not similarly accredited on the final cut.[4] In 2012, Devore's publicist Michael Sands, who had been participating in the documentary, died after choking on a meat sample in a supermarket. [5] Alford and Westaway’s differing reactions to Sands’ death fueled their disagreements over the direction of the project.

In 2016, director William Westaway raised £4,769 through a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund completion of technical aspects to the production. [6]

Reception

Critical Response

The 2014 fine cut received criticism over ethical concerns. Cinestyle called the documentary "riveting" but added "I wouldn’t want to be [director] Westaway’s friend (or enemy)".[7] It was also dubbed a "sour" and "dubious" product that "borders on unethical".[8]

Awards and Nominations

  • In 2017-18, the film won Best Documentary at the Vienna Independent Film Festival and the Creation International Film Festival and was runner-up in the same category at the Beloit International Film Festival[9][10][11]. It received nominations at the Wayward Film Festival, the San Mauro International Film Festival, [12] and Fabrique Du Cinema [13].
  • The 2014 cut premiered in the Future Cult Classics strand at Hot Docs and won the Tablet of Honor, signifying second place, at the Ammar Popular Film Festival.[14] It was also nominated that year at Dallas International Film Festival, Tacoma Film Festival and Light House International Film Festival.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.hotdocs.ca/archive/films/writer-with-no-hands
  2. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1998/oct/10/local/me-31044 Scott Glover, CHP Pieces Together Writer's Final Hours, Los Angeles Times, 10 October 1998
  3. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2905392/Hollywood-screenwriter-mysteriously-killed-20-years-ago-working-CIA-hands-sent-autopsy-200-years-old.html Daily Mail, Exclusive, 2014
  4. ↑ http://standingstonesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-writer-with-no-hands-interview-with.html
  5. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2129744/Michael-Sands-death-deli-meat-sample-Hollywood-publicist-claimed-CIA-chokes.html
  6. ↑ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/242588498/follywood-a-conspiracy-documentary-like-no-other
  7. ↑ Review: Cinestyle http://www.cineinstyle.com/?tag=gary-devore
  8. ↑ Brown, Phil (21 April 2014). "Hot Docs 2014: The Writer with No Hands Review". Dork Shelf. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014.
  9. ↑ https://beloitfilmfest.org/biff-event/biffy-award-night-2018/
  10. ↑ VIFF http://www.vienna-film-festival.com/winners-2017.html
  11. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=482753405426737&id=212036895831724
  12. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/stiffmovies
  13. ↑ http://www.fabriqueducinema.com/evento/fabrique-awards-15-la-cerimonia-premiazione/
  14. ↑ Ammar Film Festival http://ammarpopularff.com/festival/aipff-2015/
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