Every immigrant has a story. Once a successful musician in Pakistan, now a food-cart vendor in New York barely scraping by, Ahmad (Ahmad Razvi) lives the daily grind. Shot with mostly nonprofessional actors, often furtively, on location in the streets of Manhattan, this debut feature from Ramin Bahrani is a classic of modern neorealism and a masterclass in independent, low-budget filmmaking. With faithful attention to Ahmad's daily activity, Bahrani dramatizes the Sisyphean struggle of bettering one's station in life and offers an authentic snapshot of post-9/11 New York City as seen through the eyes of those labeled the perpetrators. 

D: Ramin Bahrani, US, 2005, 1h27m

Programmed as part of the Asian Diaspora on Screen series in collaboration with the Dartmouth Asian American Studies Collective (DAASC).