Following the excellent “Moshari“, Bangladeshi Nuhash Humayun has come up with another horror short, this time focusing on a local concept, of a preference regarding white foreigners in terms of a number of financial aspects, including apartment rent and retail trade.
“Foreigners Only” is screening at Vienna Shorts
Hasan, a tannery manager who has developed intense skin problems due to his work, is desperately trying to find an apartment to live. Not even money, however, seem to convince the latest landlord, who does not want locals, and even more, someone like Hasan in his apartments. With his girlfriend already having broken up with him due to his profession, the tanner finds himself in his wit’s end when, during a visit to a pharmacy, the owner usher a Caucasian male to the front of the busy line. Violence ensues, with Hasan finding a rather extreme solution to his problems.
Nuhash Humayun directs a 15-minute short that moves into two axes, one ironic/metaphoric, in terms of context, and one grotesque, in terms of presentation. Regarding the former, the irony is evident throughout the movie, with the way Hasan is treated, as if he was a leper essentially, showing the prejudice that dominates local society. Even more so, the way the attitude of the people around him, including women, changes as soon as he finds his own solution to the problem he faces, adds even more to this approach, in an element that reminds intensely of “Walking Dead”. Lastly, the attitude the pharmacist exhibits towards the foreigner concludes the particular comment.
In terms of presentation, Humayun seems to have gone much further than “Moshari” with a number of images, from the intro of the film actually, pointing towards a splatter horror, with the various skin diseases and maiming that appear throughout the short, being quite grotesque in their presentation. The horror element is also intensified by the music by Avishek Bhattacharjee and Rakat Zami and the excellent cinematography of Ejaz Mehedi, who captures the various setting in a way that adds to the overall aesthetics of the movie, with the truly horrific close up of skin being the highlight of his work. Fuad Shourav’s editing results in a rather fast tempo, that also suits the genre approach the director implemented here.
Mostafa Monwar has emerged as one of the most prominent talents of Bangladeshi cinema, and he proves it here as Hasan once more, with his inner struggle, frustration, and resolve all being excellent portrayed, even if with a slight pinch of excessiveness.
“Foreigners Only” is another short that proves the rather high level Nuhash Humayun has reached in his filmmaking and a movie that all fans of horror will enjoy. On a personal note, I cannot wait to see him shooting his first feature.
