The Defection of Simas Kudirka

In 1970, Russian radio operator Simas Kudirka (Alan Arkin) jumps aboard the deck of a U.S. Coast Guard ship in Martha s Vineyard and announces his intention to defect. But, because of a quirk in American law, the sympathetic Coast Guard officers are unable to offer him political asylum, and watch as Kudirka s fellow crew members forcibly return him to his ship. After being sentenced to ten years hard labor in Russia, Kudirka makes a startling discovery that could change everything.