Clandestine (2009)
Listen. Maybe in all the static of these encoded broadcasts you’ll hear a confession. Begin Transmission.
The true history of Numbers Stations, encoded shortwave radio broadcasts to spies in the field, and the fictional tale of a man’s relationship with his emotionally distant father, a shortwave hobbyist with his own family secrets, intertwine to show how childish fantasies can lead personal heroes to public villainy.
links:
official website
imdb
Production Notes
2009 / USA / 30 min / Black & White
Produced on a negligible budget (~$0), Gideon and Marcus utilized archival material in the public domain to seamlessly recontextualize ephemeral cinema with animation, telling an original story of espionage and adultery, communication and miscommunication, and the relativity of good and bad.
“Clandestine” had a world premiere by invitation at the prestigious International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the world’s largest documentary film festival. It was also invited to play at the 2010 International Seminar on Cinema and Audiovisual (SEMCINE) in Brazil as part of a roundtable discussion on “The Subtle Border Between Reality and Fiction,” in which Gideon presented a paper, “Story Is Primary.” Additionally, the film played in four countries, over a dozen festivals, won multiple awards, and eventually was broadcast on PBS.
