Synopsis Variations
Logline:
Half documentary and half fiction, 'Clandestine' intertwines the history of spy radio broadcasts with the story of a man's relationship with his father to show how childish fantasies can lead personal heroes to public villainy. Made with almost entirely public domain materials.
Synopsis (Medium):
Governments around the world broadcast encrypted messages via shortwave radio to secret agents in enemy territory. Known as Numbers Stations, these publicly accessible yet indecipherable messages provide the framework for two stories, intertwining fact with fiction.
Clandestine documents the history of the spies caught possessing these coded messages. Juxtaposed with the stories of their capture is the fictional tale of a man’s relationship with his father, a shortwave hobbyist, and his legacy of familial secrets.
Using freely available archive material, the film seamlessly re-contextualizes ephemeral cinema into a story of espionage and adultery, communication and miscommunication, and the relativity of good and bad.
Synopsis (Long):
Governments around the world broadcast encrypted messages via shortwave radio to secret agents in enemy territory. Known as Numbers Stations, these publicly accessible yet indecipherable messages provide the framework for two stories, intertwining fact with fiction.
Clandestine documents the history of the spies caught possessing these coded messages. Juxtaposed with the stories of their capture is the fictional tale of a man’s relationship with his father, a shortwave hobbyist, and his legacy of familial secrets.
Using freely available archive material, the film seamlessly re-contextualizes ephemeral cinema into a story of espionage and adultery, communication and miscommunication, and the relativity of good and bad.
Made almost entirely from ephemeral films (news reels, movie serials, industrial and educational films, etc.) existing within the public domain, this approximately 30 minute short is the third project from Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater.