THE TRUTH WILL OUT
The Truth Will Out
Four centuries ago, the truth was dangerous. It still is.
A Films 24fps Production · Documentary · 2026
Who really wrote the works of William Shakespeare? The Truth Will Out sets out on a journey through time to uncover the true author behind Shakespeare’s masterpieces and to explore the enigmatic life of Queen Elizabeth I. In an era when speaking the truth could mean death, hidden identities and coded plays concealed dangerous secrets.
From the depths of London to Los Angeles, New York City, Venice and the English countryside, the film brings together leading actors, scholars and authorship researchers, and recreates the Elizabethan world through more than 1,000 AI-assisted historical sequences, to reveal a truth that could reshape a nation’s history.
32 International Official Selections · 8 Awards
Award winners
-
Los Angeles Film Awards – Honorable Mention
-
Venice AI Film Awards, Italy – Winner, Best Feature Movie
-
Power24 International Film Festival, Durban South Africa - Best Documentary Feature
-
Milan Indie Film Festival – Winner, Best Feature Documentary
-
London Women Film Festival – Winner, Best Cinematography (Hector Abaunza)
-
Seoul International AI Film Festival – Award Winner Gold Prize
-
Global Visionaries Film Festival, Singapore – Winner, Best Documentary Feature
-
Zeal International Film Festival, Paris, France – Winner, Best Documentary Feature
Finalists
-
Stockholm City Film Festival – Finalist
-
LIFF – Luleå International Film Festival, Sweden – Finalist
-
Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival – Finalist
-
Elegant IFF – Finalist
-
Humro Cinema Film Fest – Finalist
-
Pageant Film Festival, India – Finalist
-
Hamburg Indie Film Festival – Semi-Finalist
-
California Women Film Festival – Semi-Finalist
-
Calgary Indie Film Awards – Semi-Finalist
-
Kyoto Independent Film Festival – Semi-Finalist
-
Frames of New York – Semi-Finalist
-
Cleveland Arthouse Film Awards – Semi-Finalist
-
Hawaii International Film Awards – Semi-Finalist
Official selections
-
Beijing Lift-Off Film Festival, China – Official Selection
-
Berlin Underground Film Festival, Germany – Official Selection
-
Amsterdam Lift-Off Film Festival, The Netherlands – Official Selection
-
Altavilla Film Fest - Il trionfo Cristiano di St Pellegrino, Italy -- Official Selection
-
Almamoura Film Festival, Abu Dhabi, UAE — Official Selection
-
Sydney Lift-Off Film Festival, Australia – Official Selection
-
Paris Lift-Off Film Festival, France – Official Selection
-
ICJ Film Awards, Ukraine – Official Selection
-
Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival, USA – Official Selection
-
Red Film Awards, Reims, France – Official Selection
-
Ischia Global Film Festival, Italy – Official Selection
FEATURING
Sir Derek Jacobi CBE - Alexander Waugh - Elizabeth Winkler - Hank Whittemore - Annabel Leventon - Richard Clifford - Ron Destro - Phoebe Nir
-Stewart Pearce - Nigel Daly OBE - Tim Willis - Jane Greatorex - Jan Cole - Charles Bird - Kevin Gilvary - Peter Eaton - Karen Lucas - James de Vere Beauclerk
Introducing
Anna Davis as Queen Elizabeth I
Tomas Auksas as Thomas Seymour
Murray Lachlan Young as the voice of Edward de Vere
Philip Sallon as the Jester
Hosted by Amanda Eliasch
THE FILMMAKER
Hector Abaunza
Writer · Director · Executive Producer · Director of Photography · Editor · Generative AI Creation & Direction
Paris-trained filmmaker Hector Abaunza wrote, directed, produced, filmed and edited The Truth Will Out over more than three years of international production across the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy. He shaped every stage of the film, from its cinematography and interviews to the construction of its narrative in the editing room.
As the project evolved, he pioneered a new approach to documentary filmmaking. He personally created and directed more than 1,000 AI-assisted historical sequences, making The Truth Will Out one of the first feature documentaries to integrate generative AI at cinematic scale. Through these sequences, the film brings to life worlds for which no moving images could ever exist: Elizabethan London and the old London Bridge, the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Edward de Vere's Fisher's Folly, John Dee's mystical library at Mortlake, the battlefields of the Wars of the Roses, and the canals and palaces of Renaissance Venice.
Rather than replacing traditional filmmaking, he used AI as one more creative tool, blending it with original cinematography, historical locations, archival material and contemporary interviews into a single, unified cinematic language. His work was recognized with Best Feature Movie at the Venice AI Film Awards, awarded to The Truth Will Out and to Hector Abaunza as its director, and the Gold Prize for Best AI Film at the Seoul International AI Film Festival, honoring the film's pioneering use of generative AI. He also received Best Cinematography at the London Women Film Festival. The Truth Will Out has received 8 international awards and 32 official selections worldwide.
"What began with Shakespeare became a meditation on something more universal: who controls history, whose version of events survives, and what happens when accepted narratives are questioned."
— Hector Abaunza, Director
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Running time: 109 min. - Genre Documentary. - Country USA - Language English
Year 2026. - Format 4K · 2.39:1. - Sound Stereo / 5.1
A FilmsTWENTYFOURfps Production
© 2026 Films 24fps LLC. All rights reserved.
SALES & ENQUIRIES
For distribution, sales, festival programming, screeners and press enquiries: