Arabica
Arabica (2020)
Created, starring and directed by: Sohib Boundaoui
Arabica is a mockumentary thriller about the surveillance of Bridgeview, a largely Arab, Muslim and specifically Palestinian community outside of Chicago. Created by Sohib Boundaoui, who also stars as a filmmaker trying to document this phenomenon, the series deftly blends reality and drama, inspiring audiences to question what they are seeing just like the residents in his community.
“There were a lot of happy accidents.” Sohib said. “I wanted it to feel like this is just like a very slight deviation from my real life. This could have actually happened to me. This could have been real conversation. This could have all been actually happening in the community.”
There are clear artistic and political reasons Sohib told the story in this way. Bridgeview has actually been surveilled by the FBI for decades, as documented by his sister in The Feeling of Being Watched. Using handheld cameras and putting professional actors alongside real people, Sohib helps us feel what it is like for our everyday life to be of interest to the government.
Because of this cinema verité style, narrative is deceptively simple. In fact, across eight episodes and nearly 90 minutes of story, the feature-length series is a collage or kaleidoscope. We see different parts of the community over the course of a very short time period. This condensed period of time feels more expansive because a mysterious white van continues to appear, bringing an air of suspense. We fear who is in the van and what they might do much more than we fear any of the people in the community. In a media climate where Arabs, Muslims, and particularly Palestinians are disproportionately and inaccurately represented and criminals and terrorists, this is a smart artistic choice.
In fact, most of the Bridgeview residents are very loving and ordinary, concerned with many of the same issues of other communities: the safety of their families, the survival of their local businesses, their hopes and dreams for the future. Not everyone is perfect, we see indications that one resident might be dealing cannabis, and another has racist feelings toward a Black Muslim community member, but these details only drive home the point that Bridgeview residents are nothing special: a white Christian suburb would have the same people but not be targeted as potential criminals.
Many residents are aware of this criminalization, and, in the show, refuse to talk to Sohib’s character on camera for fear of their safety. In first episode, Ismael says he doesn’t want to “snitch:” “I’m not talking about the cops on camera…I’m not talking about the FBI”
But later, in a very “meta” twist, Sohib tells Ismael that he will make the documentary into a narrative series, allowing him to “act” instead of snitch.
Ismael is now fully invested in telling the truth: “They’re watching us…Try making us paranoid so we back off.”
This narrative comes to a head in the final episode, in ways that interestingly resists many of the violent, divisive endings for police dramas on television.
In Arabica, while living their everyday lives, many residents of Bridgeview try to protect and support each other, mostly in ways that are quite creative and loving: like hosting community crafting events or producing music albums. The heart of the narrative appears to be a regular evening at a barbershop, often a place for honest community conversations and information sharing.
“The narrative [that we are victims] is important in certain areas…but we are also heroes in some of our stories. We’re also lovers, and we’re also poets. I think there’s so many facets to our community, and while being a victim of certain things and certain systems is a part of our story. It is not the only story,” Sohib told me.