Filming The Trial

In 1978 Orson Welles directed Filming Othello. That film had mostly consisted of a monologue in which Welles discussed his 1952 adaptation of Othello. Encouraged by the result, he set out to make a similar documentary/essay film looking back at his own film of The Trial.

In 1981, Welles gave a 90-minute question-and-answer session at the University of Southern California after a screening of The Trial. He had his cinematographer Gary Graver film the session with a view to editing highlights of the footage into the projected film. Graver observed, "A lot of people were there in the audience that day who are successful filmmakers now",^[1] as well as several noted film critics such as Joseph McBride and Todd McCarthy.^[2]

However, Welles never got round to editing the raw footage. Its only use in Welles' lifetime was by BBC journalist Leslie Megahy for his 1982 Arena documentary on Welles; specifically, the documentary features a young man asking Welles whether he would agree he has been persecuted by The Establishment and the capitalist system, and Welles being somewhat bemused by the question.