Screen Aliens Among Us

摘要

Hollywood loves aliens. But recently it has colonized our theaters with lame invasion retreads (see-or rather don't-War of the Worlds and The Day the Earth Stood Still). Lucky for us, indie director Alex Rivera's dark debut, Sleep Dealer, is a close encounter of a different kind. His groundbreaking feature, due in April, envisions a 21st century with "aliens" far closer to home: Tijuana-based "telemigrants" who jack into the matrix to perform manual labor remotely, manning US construction bots and electronic busboys via the Internet. For the Spanish-language film, which won two awards at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and an Amnesty International prize, Rivera drew from a variety of sources-some entirely fictitious, some painfully real. Here, the director reveals his approach to creating a wholly original fantasy. Listen up, Spielberg & Co.: You might learn something.