SXSW 2021: ‘Broadcast Signal Intrusion’ is a stylish noir thriller with a great central performance and a top-tier noir score.
Chicago: November 22,1987. At the sports segment of WGN-TV’s 9 pm news, someone donning a Max Headroom mask broke onto the airwaves, swaying erratically alongside an odd buzzing sound. The odd moment lasted some 25 seconds. Around two hours later, the Max Headroom mask-wearing individual hijacked yet another broadcast, this time for around 90 seconds during a PBS-affiliate airing of Doctor Who. The second broadcast was filmed in front of shifting corrugated metal, mocking local newscasters and making odd references with a distorted voice. Then…. silence. To this day, the culprits involved were never found. It’s incidents like this which seem the clear inspiration for Director Jacob Gentry’s Broadcast Signal Intrusion, written by Phil Drinkwater and Tim Woodall (who themselves wrote and directed the 2016 short Broadcast Signal Intrusion). The film stars Glee alum Harry Shum Jr. as AV tech professional James living a solitary life in late 1990’s Chicago.
