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The Feeling of Being Watched (15*)

Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2019

The Feeling of Being Watched

When journalist Assia Boundaoui investigates rumours of surveillance in her Arab-American neighbourhood in Chicago, she uncovers one of the largest FBI terrorism probes conducted before 9/11.

Residents of Assia Boundaoui’s entire neighbourhood outside of Chicago, Illinois, have felt under government surveillance for over a decade. Returning home and recounting memories of her childhood suspicions, she visits her neighbours one by one, and a mass of personal accounts begin to pile up. Assia decides it’s time to set up her own investigation.

Her inquiries soon yield tens of thousands of FBI documents proving that her Arab-American hometown was indeed the subject of one of the largest counter-terrorism investigations ever conducted in the US pre-9/11.

Creatively weaving the personal and political, The Feeling of Being Watched is Assia’s story, as she grapples with the enduring impact government surveillance has had on her country, community, and her own sense of identity.

US 2018 Dir Assia Boundaoui 87 min

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