A highly suspenseful chamber play in the transit zone of a US airport. 77 rousing minutes about an inhumane immigration system and the price of security.
At first, Diego and Elena are only lacking a pen to fill out their immigration forms at Newark Liberty Airport. They’re travelling from Spain, Diego is Venezuelan. The two have long received their visas to start a new life in Miami. Completely out of the blue, they are led into a separate room where the immigration authorities subject them to another rigorous interrogation. Within a very short time, the questions become vicious and abusive. Diego and Elena’s relationship is put to a severe test. Under pressure, they both threaten to give in. They have no idea that the worst challenge is yet to come.
The directors cite the American filmmaker Sidney Lumet as their role model. His name evokes visual directness, moral honesty and great suspense – all of which also characterize ›Upon Entry‹.
Directors
Not unlike their characters, Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez come from Venezuela, live in Barcelona and partly work in the US (Rojas is a film editor and Vásquez a cinematographer). ›Upon Entry‹, their first feature as directors, won the FIPRESCI award in Tallinn.