Film

John & Jane Toll-Free

9:00 pm, Friday November 16th, Victoria Theater, San Francisco
Admission: $9
Director: Ashim Ahluwalia
Country: India (2005)
Running Time:83 mins, Color, 35mm
In English with English subtitles

Unlike any other doc on outsourcing, John & Jane Toll-Free is not so much a film, as it is an experience. A surreal, captivating documentary that meanders through the nocturnal corridors of the steel-and-glass highrises of Bombay's burgeoning economic boom, and examines the cultural & psychological impact of the American dream on six young Indian workers.

This is Ahluwalia's first feature-length film and has often been mistaken for fiction -- "It is a documentary, but I like that you have to question whether it's reality or fiction." Ahluwalia studied film at Bard College in New York under experimental filmmakers Peter Hutton and Peggy Ahwesh. He currently lives and works in Bombay.

Selected filmography : John & Jane Toll-Free (2005), Thin Air (1999) and Short Season (1995)

SF Premiere.