Persons of Interest

An unusual documentary that mixes a tight distance in the form with an honest and warm commitment to the substance. The film listens to American immigrants with a Moslem background who, after the events of September 11, 2001, came into contact with the security services and Justice Department in a random and often unconstitutional way. Minor irregularities such as a visa that was out of date could lead to lengthy imprisonment on the grounds of vague suspicions of terrorist activities. People were also deported, disrupting family bonds. The film makers interview the victims of these arbitrary legal measures -the ‘persons of interest’ -in a bare white room. A room that functions in the film as interrogation room or prison cell, but also as a living room. Those interviewed vary in age between 4 and 56, come from different countries (Algeria, Israel/Palestine, Pakistan) and different groups from society. One of the protagonists, a Palestinian father of eight children, was locked up for more than a year, without charge or trial. In his despair, he went on hunger strike. A gripping story of a brave father who diligently wanted to realise the American Dream and after a lengthy period in America it was made clear to him he was born in the wrong country.