Beacon Film Society presents…

STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF

Thursday April 9, 2026
7:30p (7p doors)

Howland Cultural Center 

477 Main Street  Beacon NY  12508

Q&A with producer Jonathan Hsu to follow the screening.

A genre-bending hybrid documentary/narrative about Jerry Hsu, a retired Taiwanese immigrant in Florida scammed out of his life savings.

After an unsettling call from a Chinese police officer puts Jerry on his heels, he agrees join an undercover operation that sends him into a spiral of secrecy and self-destruction.

What follows is a rare film that exists along the fine line between fact and fiction, one that confronts memory, nostalgia, human frailty and fallibility, the pursuit of the ‘America dream’, and the seductive traps that fraudsters set to prey upon our aging population.

*****

 ~ GRAND JURY AWARD ~
Slamdance Film Festival

*****

“ Starring Jerry as Himself can be filed under ‘truth is stranger than fiction.’ ”

– RogerEbert.com

“… participatory nature offers something new for true crime”

-POV Magazine

“… a remarkable accomplishment”

– Cinema Escapist

“100% Fresh”

– Rotten Tomatoes

Jonathan Hsu has been making films ever since his father gave him the family’s Digi8 Camcorder to document their family travels. Since then he has produced multiple award winning commercials, music videos, and films. He founded his commercial production services company HsuBox Productions Inc. with the mission to share and produce content that is as diverse as his crew and clients.

Jonathan is an alumni of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He recently Executive Produced the horror movie “A Wounded Fawn” for Tribeca 2022’s Midnight Program and also the short film “Closing Dynasty” for the inaugural Netflix x Gold House x Tribeca 2022 Future Gold Fellowship. He is a member of the DPA, A-Doc, IDA, Gotham, and Film Independent.