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Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee
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Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee
IDFA 2016

Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee

Nanette Burstein
United States
2016
98 min
International Premiere
Festival history

John McAfee (b. 1945) became world-famous and extremely rich by releasing the most well-known anti-virus software in history. And this was just the beginning of his incredible life in the public eye. The software millionaire then set out on a new career as a yogi with hordes of devoted followers, got mixed up in a murder case in Belize and became a fugitive from justice before running for president. Endlessly fascinated by this remarkable biography, filmmaker Nanette Burstein decided to investigate what fame does to people. Do different rules apply in the world of the rich, famous and powerful? While interviewing people from almost every period of McAfee’s life, Burstein not only hears some pretty scary stories about McAfee, but she also starts to receive creepy emails from the protagonist of her film. The ensuing email exchange, which spices up this revealing film portrait, culminates in a strange, threatening dialogue that says at least as much about McAfee as all of the candid interview testimony.

Credits
Director
Executive producer
    Wendy Roth,
    Jeffrey Wise,
    Michael Hirschorn,
    Showtime Networks Inc.
World Sales
    Dogwoof
    Dogwoof
Screening copy
    Dogwoof
    Dogwoof