Nominallyalaptopmovieinthatthecomputerscreenisthefilm’sframe,Debutdeploysthegenre’susualformalelements—browserwindows,GoogleEarthimages,stuttering.movclips—whileaddingaprofusionofothermaterial,from3DanimationtoiPhone-shotlocationfootagetodollsandminiaturework. Asforthecounterfeitartnarrative,that’sinspiredbythereal-lifecaseofNewYorkdealerElySakhai,whowaschargedbytheFBIwithsellingforgedimpressionistpaintings.AfterreadingtheoriginalFBIdocuments,Castronovobecamefascinatedwithoneaspectofthefraud—that,basedonthebrushstrokes,theactualforgerwasspeculatedtobeayoungChineseperson.“Iwasinterestedinthatlinkbetweenthistypeofaestheticcreationthatoccurssomewhatinavacuumbutthen,whenit’sinterpretedinthisrealcontext,takesontheseracialorculturalqualities.So,Iinventedafictionfromthat.”