Filmmaker Statement

Two violations of privacy are the fundamental acts in this film, both surreptitious - but one is done out of need, the other is cloaked beneath a privileged generosity. Their motivations appear to stem from the fear of sleeping exposed to the world vs a general fear of intrusion. This film does not resolve who is the most just -- the lines between victim and perpetrator are appropriately blurry. One position has the power of surveillance culture near at hand and a quasi-liberal righteousness that accompanies it. The other? He is just a so-called “barbarian” Ring®ing at the gate. Barbarian: a term coined by the “civilized” to define those of alternate means and methods - those outside the rules and constraints of civilization. “Barbarians” may provoke our fear, or our sympathy and maybe even our generosity, but only if they submit to sacrificing the dignity of their privacy.