Choānn’s American nightmare

In this dark and symbolic film, titled A Stranger's House, Heckler director Choānn explores the death of the American dream and political tensions from his personal perspective as an immigrant living in the States.  

Interweaving archival footage with surreal tableaux, the film juxtaposes the glossy icons of modern America – fashion influencers, pouting models and suburban landscapes – with imagery of war, weapons and destruction as Eisenhower's prophetic farewell speech resonates across the present. 

The director adds: “I made this film while living in the United States as an immigrant. It emerged from the feeling of inhabiting a place that was never entirely mine – a house I could live in, but never truly belong to.  

As political and social tensions intensified around me, I watched communities grapple with questions of identity, autonomy, and belonging. Immigration, war, reproductive rights, and trans rights were no longer distant headlines; they became the backdrop against which everyday life unfolded. 

What I once saw as a place of certainty and permanence gradually revealed itself to be far more fragile, contradictory, and increasingly difficult to inhabit, both physically and emotionally.”