SYNOPSIS
The Jack Raymond Show is a radio program which has been broadcast every day for 50 years from a small, family-operated radio station in northern Wisconsin. The host of the show is a mysterious figure who has a loyal local following, and still gets fan mail, but he’s been dead for over 40 years. This film is the story of Jack Raymond and the eccentric radio station that has unwittingly influenced a generation of local musicians and artists.
STARRING
- Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver)
- Ryan Olson (Poliça)
- David Nordstrom (Giuseppe Makes a Movie)
NARRATED BY Mark Borchardt (star of American Movie, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Award)
SELECTED FESTIVALS
Hot Docs Toronto – Int’l Premiere (sold-out)
Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival – US Premiere
Wisconsin Film Festival – Opening night film
Milwaukee Film Festival – Sold-out screening
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival
PRESS
“My favorite film of the opening night quartet was Andrew Swant’s Silently Steal Away. Swant pairs audio of the easy listening show with footage of snowplows braving a Wisconsin winter, an unlikely marriage that somehow fits like a glove. The show has drawn superfans of the likes of Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, who gravitate to its singular, weird charm in an increasingly corporatized radio world … An ode to a small, out-of-the-way pocket of Wisconsin where strange magic can happen to those savvy enough to tune into its wavelength.”
– The Capital Times
“The standout documentary short from opening night, this film spins Justin Vernon’s obsession with a mysterious radio broadcast heard every night via an obscure radio station in Chippewa Falls into a full-blown investigation. Andrew Swant plays gumshoe … in digging through old tapes and fan histories, he uncovers why the host has such a cult following despite having died 40 years prior, and where exactly his recorded dispatches were coming from: a tiny apartment in Milwaukee.”
– Tone
“It’s hard to make radio seem “cinematic,” and yet that’s exactly what Andrew Swant achieves in Silently Steal Away. Swant leans into the mystery of Jack Raymond and the man behind the voice behind one of the Midwest’s longest running syndicated radio programs. With sweepingly nostalgic reenactments and a flair for the dramatic, Swant’s deep dive leads him to the station’s current proprietors as well as an array of Jack Raymond Show fanatics, including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Gayngs’ Ryan Olson.”
– Lake Front Row
“A heartwarming love letter to a bygone era, and to a voice that has meant so much to so many for so long. A truly wonderful short. 7 out of 8 stars.”
– MoviePie
