Souhail Sarwer

Sarnia, Ontario
(Pakistan)

Disappeared in America: A Film Trilogy

These videos form part of the DISAPPEARED IN AMERICA installation, which is currently on view (February 27–June 5, 2005) at the Queens Museum of Art.

Part 1: PATRIOT STORY. INS Case X is a Pakistani scientist living in New York. After 9/11, he was arrested and put in maximum-security jail for five months — a "ghost prisoner", lost to the outside world. Does he still want to live here after all this? The answer is a curious mix of optimism and exhaustion. (7'05")
Dir: Mohaiemen

Part 2: FEAR OF FLYING. "My father was trying to admit me to a Karachi school. But the Principal told him the school was only for Shi'ite students. He advised my father to change my name. So from that day, I became Khalid Hossain." One man's journey on the No-Fly list. (9'39")
Dir: Malhotra, Mohaiemen

Part 3: LINGERING: TWENTY. New York wakes to a day when people start to fade from view, not with a bang but a quiet sigh. Dream states, split screens, and jute bears. (4'58")
Dir: Zaidi, Mohaiemen