The overused words some adequate replacements
Hammy: mugging, operatic, schmaltzy, pretended, impossible
Impulse: beat, bump, fuss
Candid: plain, aboveboard, forthright, upright
Watched: Sweetgrass, Inhaling the Spore.
Bleated in bed and startled the cat.
Idea: Festival of films dealing with trickery, being fooled, fooling oneself, fooling the audience. Inspired by F For Fake, the first and most obvious candidate. Thinking also of Carlos Saura's Carmen, Great World of Sound, I'm From Hollywood, Deep Water, Ulrich Seidl, Ricky Jay.