Foreigners Only
2022 · 15m · Bangladesh
Directed by Nuhash Humayun
Genres: dark comedy, horror, satire
Tones: dark, darkly comic
A Bangladeshi tannery manager suffering from severe skin problems is repeatedly rejected by landlords who prefer foreign tenants, driving him to a gory and darkly humorous extreme to finally 'have skin in the game.'
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Bangladeshi tannery worker with skin disease vs. "foreigners only" landlords — the literal skin-in-the-game body horror set inside an actual tannery. That's the play.
Humayun's body horror as colonial-discrimination metaphor, opening on actual tannery footage, is precisely the kind of formally bold genre work I want from Bangladesh. The Get Out lineage is earned rather than borrowed.
Short of the Week-curated at 15 minutes, 50K views, with the body-horror-as-housing-discrimination metaphor sharpened by the choice to open in a real Bangladeshi tannery. Nuhash Humayun has a track record (Moshari) and the pun-as-thesis ("skin in the game") is grimly perfect.
Reviews
Humayun moves along two axes: one ironic/metaphoric in terms of context, and one grotesque in terms of presentation — a dark comedy with artistic value and a brilliant satirical take on the social fabric of formerly colonised countries.
One of the most exciting upcoming genre directors — Foreigners Only is unique and unforgettable.
Festivals
- Vienna Shorts 2022, Youth Award
- Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival 2022, Audience Award for Best Short Film