a.k.a. The Ghetto Girl's Journey
An Interactive Documentary by Joseph Kraemer and Ambarien Alqadar
Based on the film The Ghetto Girl by Ambarien Alqadar
Between Leaving and Arriving tells the story of Nilofeur, a young Muslim woman lost in transit. Set in one of the largest Muslim ghetto neighborhoods in India, Jamia Nagar, a place that has increasingly come to be known as a breeding ground for terrorism, Nilofeur's journey is one that reflects upon the wandering narratives of the city and the elusiveness of identity. Caught between the politics of culture, religion, country, community, identity and home, Nilofeur sets out on a journey to discover where she belongs. Will she escape her home and flee to her dream of New York City? Will she stay to find her place amongst her people? Along the way, she encounters the many faces of a world in flux: the preacher, the madman, the policeman, the taxi driver, the rickshaw puller, all the while being fixed by them and us as simultaneously an outsider, insider, suspect, tourist, object of curiosity, stereotype, and victim within the many places that chart the pathways of her journey.
This project is currently in development. Watch Ambarien Alqadar's The Ghetto Girl trailer online at https://vimeo.com/27884980.
An Interactive Documentary by Joseph Kraemer
Based on a true story
Project site currently under construction, to be completed by 2016!
An interactive, lo-fi, virtual retelling of the author's personal experience renting a slumhouse from a slumlord landlord. Home Sweet Home places the viewer in the shoes of a powerless tenant left alone to fight for the basic rights supposedly afforded to all tenants or, at the very least, a refund on the security deposit. Blending electronic literature storytelling modes with a videogame aesthetic and an immersive soundscape, the project recreates the trials, the frustrations, and the bureaucratic hurdles faced when fighting for a functioning furnace, secure windows and doors, up-to-code electrical wiring, and honoring promises to clean and repair the house before move-in. Told through a virtual recreation of the slumhouse built from the collection of photographs documenting the need for repairs at the time of move in, Home Sweet Home crafts a playful, funny yet defiant portrait of the challenges tenants face when fighting a negligent landlord for the basic rights to safety, shelter, peace, and comfort within their own homes. It is also a rebuke of a capitalist society and political class that prioritizes ownership and business above all else, often at the expense of the "little guy."