| Director: | Steve James |
|---|---|
| Production: | Participant,
Mitten Media (Mark Mitten), Kartemquin Films,
Dave Lindorff,
Steve James
|
| Running Time: | 102’ |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | USA, UK |
| Main Cast: | Ted Hall,
Joan Hall,
Ruth London, Sarah Hall, Sarah Sax, Boria Sax, Joseph Albright, Marcia Kunstel, Daniel Axelrod
|
| Screenplay: | Steve James |
| Cinematographer: | Tom Bergmann |
| Editor: | Steve James |
| Production Designer: | Laura Gordon |
| Costume Designer: | Kate Grube, Hailey Sharpe
|
Cinema
A Compassionate Spy
Out of Competition
Synopsis
Recruited in 1944 as an 18-year-old Harvard undergraduate to be the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project, to create a bomb before the Germans did, Ted Hall didn’t share his colleagues’ elation after the successful detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. Increasingly concerned during 1944—with Germany clearly losing the war—that a U.S. post-war monopoly on such a powerful weapon after the war could lead to nuclear catastrophe, he decided beginning that October to start passing key information about the bomb’s construction to the Soviet Union. After the war, at the University of Chicago, he met and married Joan, a fellow student with whom he shared a passion for classical music and socialist causes — and the explosive secret of his espionage. Living under a cloud of suspicion and years of FBI surveillance and intimidation, the pair raised a family while Ted refocused his scientific brilliance on groundbreaking bio-physics research. A Compassionate Spy reveals the twists and turns of this real-life spy story, and the couple’s remarkable love and life together during more than 50 years of marriage.
Director’s Statement
What first drew me to make A Compassionate Spy was Joan Hall who, in her 90s, still carried the torch for Ted Hall, the love of her life and a man who, for her, took incredibly courageous risks as a young physicist on the Manhattan Project. Joan displays a passion and ability to vividly recall the extraordinary life she shared with Ted. He was a supremely gifted scientist—just eighteen-years-old— when he decided to become a spy to try and save the United States from itself and ‘save the world’ from nuclear annihilation. I hope Ted and Joan’s story will resonate with audiences today, as the world faces its own dire consequences on so many fronts.
PRODUCERS/DISTRIBUTORS
PRODUCTION 1: Diane Weyermann, Jeff Skoll – Participant
3520 Wesley St
CA 90232 – Culver City, United States of America
Tel. +1 7144231668
garchuleta@participant.com
Facebook: @Participant
Instagram: @participant
Twitter: @Participant
PRODUCTION 2: Gordon Quinn, Tim Horsburgh – Kartemquin Films
1901 W Wellington Ave
IL 60657 – Chicago, United States of America
Tel. +1 8474362329
tim@kartemquin.com
PRODUCTION 3: Mark Mitten – Mitten Media
1817 North Wolcott Ave
IL 60622 – Chicago, United States of America
Tel. +1 3127711798
mark@mittengroup.com
www.mittengroup.com
WORLD SALES: Jason Ishikawa – Cinetic
jason@cineticmedia.com
WORLD SALES: Rob Williams – Participant
3520 Wesley St
CA 90232 – Culver City, United States of America
Tel. + 1 3104096725
rwilliams@participant.com
Facebook: @Participant
Instagram: @participant
Twitter: @Participant
PRESS OFFICE: Claudia Tomassini – claudiatomassini associates
Saarbrücker Str. 24 Haus B, 2. Etage
10405 – Berlin, Germany
Tel. +49 3044340606
press@claudiatomassini.com
ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE: Claudia Tomassini – claudiatomassini associates
Saarbrücker Str. 24 Haus B, 2. Etage
10405 – Berlin, Germany
Tel. +49 3044340606
claudia@claudiatomassini.com
