British Agent
80'
USA
IFFR 2019
An anti-Communist drama starring Robert Walker, My Son John was produced during the height of McCarthyism. The Jeffersons, a picture-perfect, small town, all-American family see their eldest son John return home after a long absence spouting views that cause them to worry he may be a Communist spy. After a visit from the FBI, John assures his mother (Helen Hayes) of his loyalty by swearing on her Bible. She begs him to confess and declares that he deserves to be punished.
Despite its questionable message (to say the least), this is a sublime and important American tragedy, as well as the last Robert Walker role (he died before shooting was completed). McCarey had to alter the film's ending because of Walker's unfilmed sequences and inserted a shot of Walker from Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.
IFFR 2019
Programme IFFR 2019
Spying as a way of filming, and the camera as an espionage tool. From more control to more confusion. Classics to contemporary highlights.
Read more about this programme80'
USA
IFFR 2019
Three stories of espionage in the Middle East, with images shot on a trip to Cairo in 2016, another to Tehran in 2008 and never-seen-before footage from Sana'a, Yemen. A love story and a suspense tale, mixed in with a dash of comedy and paranoia.
25'
Argentina
IFFR 2019
Impressive docudrama set in Korea about interrogation techniques used on prisoners. Was not allowed to be screened for 45 years.
64'
United Kingdom
IFFR 2019