About

Grandpa was a Spy tells the story of Howard Schack and experience collecting clandestine information for Israel during business trips to countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, and Iran. Though he took no financial compensation for his efforts, Howard was granted access to a secret world that a person who had lived his entire life in a small Upstate New York town might only dream about. Over the course of 15 years, he gathered intelligence critical to the Raid on Entebee and the rescue of passengers from Air France Flight 139, provided Israel with the famed “Arab Boycott List” and information on the Osirak nuclear plant, and was on hand for the 1979 Iranian Revolution. This movie delves into issues of national and cultural identity and the struggle between maintaining a public persona and leading a secret life in international espionage.