Welles utilized a film-within-a-film narrative which follows the last day in the life of an aging Hollywood film director ( Huston ) as he hosts a screening party for his unfinished latest project . The film was shot in an unconventional mockumentary style featuring a rapid cutting approach with both color and black-and-white footage . It was intended as a satire of both the passing of Classic Hollywood and of the avant-garde filmmakers of Europe and New Hollywood in the 1970s . The unreleased results would be called " the Holy Grail of cinema . " Following Welles ' death in 1985 , several attempts were made at reconstructing the unfinished film . In 2014 , the rights were acquired by Royal Road and the project was overseen by Bogdanovich and producer Frank Marshall . The film eventually had its world premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on August 31 , 2018 and was released on November 2 , 2018 by Netflix to critical praise , accompanied by the documentary '' They 'll Love Me When I 'm Dead '' ( 2018 )
75th Venice International Film Festival
75th Venice International Film Festival
The Other Side of the Wind