Necessary Illusions

It was amazing to me how Fayeque Rahman was able to create such increasing tension in his 20-minute film about a young Canadian architecture student (of Iranian origin) who is deemed suspicious at an unnamed U.S. airport, and abruptly  detained for questioning.  

At first, the twentysomething guy on his way to study and visit his Italian fiancée in Los Angeles assumes there’s just been a misunderstanding.   Rahman’s  use of swinging camera shots veering around the actor Anup Sugunan, and the ever increasing rumble in the background and eventual roar of jet engines, the simple process of handing in a passport and paperwork at a  counter suddenly becomes as fraught as watching someone try to escape  over  the Berlin Wall during the 1960s.   The act of slitting open a stuffed toy, a pug dog, was chilling and had me on the verge of tears.   And it just gets more violating and humiliating.

The film’s title, of course, is a reference to Chomsky.  

You can see the trailer here.   And Anup has an interesting blog about acting here.

This movie was screened November 2nd, 2006 at the Indo-American Arts Council’s sixth film festival.

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