Ashley Tabataba’s short film zeroes in on the human consequences of the Trump travel ban that restricted entry to the US for people travelling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
As well as writing and directing the film, Tabataba also stars as protagonist Ethan Reynolds – an airport immigration officer. With his own issues on his mind, Reynolds wants to just get on with the job and focus on regaining custody of his daughter. But when 18 year old Reza and his younger sister are denied entry to the United States and detained at the airport, humanity begs to pull focus.
Despite having relatives already in the country, Reza (Arian Nik) and his sister (Ayla Rose) are denied entry under the travel ban by an officious man who takes far too much pleasure from the crueller aspects of his job. Hank Henson (Mitchell Mullen) embodies all the stereotypes of those who revel a little too much in their position of authority. It seems he makes a personal vendetta against Reza and his sister to prevent them from gaining entry to the US so they can be with their father who is sick in hospital. Although Officer Reynolds is aware of Hank’s aggressive authority, he tries to keep his head down. Having a stable job is one of the conditions that he needs to meet in order to regain custody of his child, so Reynolds doesn’t want to cause a stir with the boss.
After some persuasion from the children’s lawyer, Carol (Helene Maksoud), Reynolds feels compelled to take matters into his own hands.
With excellent performances all round, the mise-en-scene and cinematography of Hamdardi seal the deal. The visuals elevate the narrative, resulting in an incredibly polished final product. Hamdardi wouldn’t look out of place on TV screens. Looking at the human impact proves to be extraordinarily effective as the film educates and informs about how various political decisions impact people.
Watch the trailer below.