Mark Cousins explores Orson Welles's unseen drawings in new film

Mark Cousins, the American filmmaker behind the 15-hour documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey, has directed The Eyes of Orson Welles, a film that reveals Welles's prolific but little-known output as a visual artist. Welles (1915-1985) drew and painted throughout his life, producing a vast body of images that have remained largely unpublished. Cousins's film presents these drawings and sketches on camera, using a voiceover letter addressed to Welles to craft an unconventional portrait. The documentary challenges the assumption that Welles's striking set designs and cinematography were solely the work of collaborators like cinematographer Gregg Toland, who worked with him on Citizen Kane. Instead, Cousins argues that Welles's own visual artistry shaped his cinematic vision. The film premiered at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival.