Netflix is committed to completing The Other Side of the Wind, an incomplete Orson Welles film he began between 1970 and 1976. The platform plans to give producers the money they need to finalize the film.
The Other Side of the Mind, shot intermittently between 1970 and 1976, tells the story, almost autobiographical, of a filmmaker who attempts a comeback after going into exile. Considered the filmmaker's most ambitious work, the feature film never saw the light of day. The film was produced by the company of Mehdi Bushehri, the brother-in-law of the Shah of Iran. After the fall of the regime in 1979 and a falling out between the two men, the project was blocked.
In 2015, a trio of producers led by Frank Marshall (Indiana Jones, Jurassic World) were determined to complete this film by launching a crowdfunding campaign. The 400,000 dollars raised, 1/3 of the amount requested, did not allow the project to be revived. In addition, the rights are shared between the producers and the descendants of Wells, which creates a happy mess where it is difficult to obtain the rights to direct.
Netflix has entered the battle to the tune of $5 million. The project is still led by producer Marshall. He and his team were able to retrieve Welles' notes, a 40-minute edit, ten hours of rushes and the number of Peter Bogdanovich , director and actor in the film, to whom the deceased filmmaker had entrusted the task of finishing the film according to his specifications.
With this project, Netflix is committing a little more to a vision of an elitist cinema composed of prestigious directors like Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, recovered by the platform. The idea of sharing this ultimate work of Citizen Kane 's dad would be an important marketing and cultural coup for the platform.
