THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Documentary Feature | 114 minutes

HIFF 2021

 Documentary Competition

Directed by
Peter Middleton, James Spinney

Produced by
Ben Limberg, John Battsek, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Jo-Jo Ellison

Written by
Oliver Kindeberg, Peter Middleton, James Spinney

2021 | English | UK

Award-winning filmmakers Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s (NOTES ON BLINDNESS) latest documentary is a fascinating take on one of cinema’s most iconic figures: Charlie Chaplin. In an innovative blend of newly-unearthed audio recordings, dramatic reconstructions and personal archive, the film traces Chaplin’s meteoric rise from the slums of Victorian London to the heights of Hollywood superstardom, before his scandalous fall from grace. Refracting Chaplin’s life through a kaleidoscope of previously unheard voices and perspectives, the film sheds new light on the many sides of a groundbreaking, controversial, and visionary artist.