Ivan Kander
A child of the 90s, I’m an unabashed fan of the 1995 film Hackers, a delightfully campy, “hip” idealization of hacker culture. Hack the planet, bitches!
But, a decade earlier—when computers were still new and cyber had yet to become punk—hackers were nothing like the rollerblading, techno-listening renegades dreamed up by Hollywood. Rather, they were a bunch of nerdy teenagers from Milwaukee. The 414s: The Original Teenage Hackers tells the story of this oddball band of geeks who managed to break into prominent computer systems in the early 80s, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, forever changing the landscape and cultural understanding of computers and cyber security.
Directed by Michael T. Vollmann, The 414s is the type of of true-life story that is undoubtedly compelling. It’s got it all: intrigue, law breaking, strained friendships and backstabbing. Honestly, it’s amazing that we haven’t seen a feature bio-pic of this story yet. Vollmann wisely keeps his filmic style straightforward, crafting a precisely edited 11 minute journey that never feels slow or cumbersome. Over the runtime, we meet these three nerdy, bespectacled teens (now nerdy, bespectacled adults) who inadvertently affected the world with their afterschool computer-tinkering.
The technology presented feels archaic now, but the underlying themes—this idea that the media sensationalizes that which it doesn’t understand, that many people in authority are using technology which they don’t fully grasp—still ring true today. Computers may be ubiquitous, but the average person still doesn’t know a lick of code and the fear of cyber security is more prevalent (and warranted) then ever.
Having screened at Sundance and AFI, Vollmann’s film had an impressive festival run. It was bought by CNN and is currently being released via their own distribution platform (hence, the non-Vimeo embed). Regardless, it’s great to see larger organizations looking to the short form to provide entertainment for the internet masses. And, really, is there a better film to represent a digital revolution than this one?