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Who really wrote Shakespeare? Even the director of London's Globe theatre has his doubts. Melbourne-born filmmaker Michael Rubbo probes experts from London to Seattle, arriving at a film essay of incredible wit and charm. Starting with American eccentric scholar Calvin Hoffman - who claimed that Christopher Marlowe faked his own death and wrote the great works of Shakespeare in Italy - Rubbo augments his frank interviews with amusing re-enactments and snippets from pop culture including Shakespeare in Love.
Footage which would usually end up on the editing floor - an interviewee runs up to his car with 'vital' information - make for precious gems of the 'documentary as incidental inquiry' - described by Rubbo as "a road movie into the 16th century". With the seduction of the greatest literary conspiracy of all time, including a supposed cover-up by Queen Elizabeth herself, the result is an extraordinary yarn overriding all concerns with truth and fiction.
Michael Rubbo is a guest of the Festival
Michael Rubbo (born in Melbourne, 1938) has a distinguished career in both children's features and documentaries. A co-founder of Film Australia, he served as the Head of Documentaries for the ABC. His films include: Sad Song of Yellow Skin (1969), Waiting for Fidel (1974) and Vincent and Me (1990).