Trama

An Australian-Israeli citizen's death in a maximum-security prison sparks international intrigue, exposing hidden ties between intelligence agencies and revealing the complex world of modern espionage.

December 2010. A prisoner is found dead in his cell at one of Israel's maximum security prisons, having hung himself after 10 months in solitary confinement, and under 24/7 surveillance. None of the guards knew his name, or the nature of his crime. They knew him only as "Prisoner X". The Israeli government placed a blanket gag order on the reporting of the story. The Prisoner's identity remained a mystery for another three years when an Australian journalist revealed the prisoner was Australian citizen Ben Zygier, an alleged Mossad agent. The film presents Ben Zygier's untold story, digging into the emotional, personal and political fallout of his story, but also poses the question: "What happens when you dare ask: 'What happened?'" Those close to him return us to Ben's childhood. A young Jewish boy growing up in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield. His faith firmly built into his identity; he attended a Jewish high school, and youth summer camps. These underpinnings would bring him to Israel, where his dual identity would begin. Testimonies paint a picture of a young agent whose ambition to excel did not match his actual skills, and that his mental fitness did not fit the profile of that required from a Mossad agent. The tension between the different, and at times contradictory versions of "Prisoner X"'s story, allows for dramatic storytelling and raises important questions of government transparency, and censorship, and the abuse of power "in the name of security".