YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio, USA, October 1, 2026 — Stealing Magic, the documentary following Vanishing Inc. co-founder Andi Gladwin’s hunt for the pirates selling magicians’ secrets online, opens the Yellow Springs Film Festival tonight. The film has also been added to the lineup of AFI Fest in Hollywood later this month.
The opening-night screening begins at 8 p.m. at the Foundry Theater at Antioch College, with doors at 7 p.m. After the film, Gladwin will take part in a Q & A, and he and David Williamson will perform. The festival runs October 1–4. Tickets are still available for tonight’s screening and performance.
“We’re the opening movie of the festival, which itself is a big honour … but the fact that I get to perform with David Williamson is crazy cool!” Gladwin wrote in a Facebook post.
Williamson is a former Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year and the recipient of The Magic Circle’s 2022 Carlton Award for comedy magic.
On his way to Ohio, Gladwin shared the AFI news. Stealing Magic screens in the festival’s Documentary section on Thursday, October 23, at 6 p.m. in Chinese 5 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The screening is open to AFI members and festival passholders. AFI Fest, now in its 40th edition, runs October 21–25. Gladwin said he will be there for a Q & A and would love to see the magic community turn out.
The AFI selection is a homecoming of sorts for director Matthew Testa, who holds an MFA in directing from the AFI Conservatory.
The 88-minute film world premiered at Tribeca in June in the Spotlight Documentary section and has since screened at DC/DOX. It also screened to a sold-out audience at the Magic Live convention in Las Vegas in August. The film features Penn & Teller, Joshua Jay, George Luck, and Julie Eng. Testa, Ethan Smith, Melanie Miller, Diane Becker, and Randy Pitchford produced.
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