whatever your feelings about what he ultimately did morally or ethically,

I think the thing that's indisputable is that he acted on conscience.

And he acted out of a desire to do what he thought was the right thing.

And to come to that decision at the age of, well, 18 and 19 is kind of remarkable.

Hello, and welcome. Hello, and welcome back to the director's cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.

In this episode, a young American physicist shares classified nuclear secrets and director Steve James' historical documentary, A Compassionate Spy.

Screened as part of the DGA's documentary series, the film tells the true story of 18-year-old physicist Ted Hall's recruitment into the Manhattan Project.

In 1944, concerned about the U.S. having a monopoly on such a devastating weapon, Ted decides

to divulge classified information

about the world's first atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

In addition to a compassionate spy, James's other directorial credits include the feature film

Prefontein and the documentaries, Life Itself, and Head Games. He received the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary

for his 1994 film Hoop Dreams,

and is a three-time nominee in the same category

for the documentary features, Abacus, Small Enough to Jail,

at the Death House Door, which was co-directed with Peter Gilbert,

and The Interruptors.

Following the documentary series screening of the film at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles,

James spoke with director Andita Moner about filming a compassionate spy.

Listen on for their conversation.

So this is a Chicago story.

Exactly.

...