A lifetime of traveling in brown skin and with a Muslim name have taught Riz Ahmed to expect the indignity of being racially profiled. At borders and airports, immigration officers see a potential terrorist where there's an actor. For years, casting directors did much the same, typecasting him as a jihadi or a cab driver or some other racial stereotype. The Pakistani-British actor and rapper detailed, and connected, those experiences in a recent essay, published on The Guardian and excerpted from a forthcoming anthology.
This sort of sociopolitical reflection through the lens of identity exists in much of Riz's work elsewhere. It's a significant thread in the music he makes with Himanshu Suri, b.k.a. Heems, as the rap duo Swet Shop Boys. "T5," a recent single from their forthcoming Cashmere LP, is a pulsing meditation on airports as centers of socially sanctioned racism. The video for the song, premiering here today and produced by The FADER, puts Riz and Heems at the mercy of TSA and border control officers at JFK's Terminal 5. In the clip, Riz and Heems play semi-autobiographical versions of themselves, with parallel experiences ending in different fates. And the message is right on time, coinciding with intense anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy in their home countries — Brexit in the U.K., and the ever-creeping threat of a Trump presidency in the U.S. Watch above for a take that's as entertaining as it is crucial.
Directed by Sofian Khan Produced by Sofian Khan & Bob Blankemeier Executive Producer - Joseph Patel Associate Producer - Fabian Caballero Director of Photography - Bob Blankemeier Steadicam Operator - Richard Patterson Production Designer - Jesse Mailings Costume Designer - Laura Texter Costume Assistant - Ashley Hogan Makeup - Ilaria Ferraro Special Effects - Daniel Calvo Titles - Justin Herrmann Edited by Sofian Khan Key Gaffer - Tom Chaves Key Grip - Charles Baker First Assistant Camera - Jonah Serfass Set Photographer - Cheryl Mowczan Best Boy - Harris Ansari Production Assistant - Nick Fiore Driver - Michael Rasulo Set Painter - Dario Nieva Production Coordinator - Madison LaClair
TSA Agent 1 - Kyle Merker TSA Agent 2 - Amanda Lea Mason TSA Agent 3 - Michael Rasulo TSA Agent 4 - Sara Silva Dancer 1 - Jaime Pineiro Dancer 2 - Diego Borja Milli - Adam Davenport Vanilli - Elijah Gravely Interrogator - David Serero Soldier - Asen Grigorov Uber Driver - Harris Ansari
