He is known as America’s best codebreaker and Bill Binney is still shocked every time he sees footage of the Twin Towers burning. Then he explains what preceded that. How, as a smart mathematician, he eavesdropped on the Russians during the Cold War and went on to form a small team at the NSA that found a solution to the digital data explosion the agency was overwhelmed by. A solution the NSA’s directors ignored, enabling – so say Binney and former staff – the 9/11 terrorists to do their worst.
A Good American reveals itself as a stylishly visualised documentary thriller that is at least as disturbing as Edward Snowden’s story. More than computers and data, this is about arrogance, morals and privacy. Binney, now a whistleblower, resigned after 9/11 and is still angered by the fact that the NSA ran roughshod over the values he upheld.
Film details
- Country of production
- Austria
- Year
- 2015
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2016
- Length
- 100"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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