One of the trademarks of an Aneel Ahmad film is how he introduces to us as a character the ambiance or the environment in which the other characters move. Aneel has at the "Checkpost" created a concise, yet minutely detailed and moving film about drone massacres, the political talking heads that faultily try to define or support them, the different perspectives that media may take, the driving force of selfish, monetary gain, and the visceral environment in which they all play. Aneel's talent in bringing together all aspects of life in a land where terrorism only became a daily part of life in recent history is so realistic one might think this film a documentary itself. More than simply making a statement about politics and terrorism, Aneel has shown us how at least the Western media tends to portray these in cold and unfeeling ways that are so vastly different from the real experiences of those who personally go through these tragedies. At the Checkpost we more than see - we FEEL - how these tangled webs of murder, politics, media and emotion strangle the once simpler and "happy" traditional life of those in the 3rd world. We feel the love of a boy for his father, for example, or the loving embrace of a hard working man giving his son the best possible life he can muster. Juxtaposed, we feel the sense of impending doom and the prayers we'd keep if we, too, had to live as if at any flash of a moment life could end. The detail and skill that Aneel has put into the making of this film is extraordinary (as usual), and I look forward to seeing many more of his always poignant films.
