Movie review: “Trust me” about Waleed Ahmed

documentary

Director:

Emil Trier

Actors:

Waleed Ahmed, Trond Giske, Fabian Stang

Premiere data:

Appears at Oslo Pix, regular premiere on 11 June.

Age limit:

Allowed for everyone

«Engaging and entertaining about the big scammer Ahmed.»

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“Can I trust you?” Asks director Emil Trier founder Waleed Ahmed towards the end of the documentary “Trust me”. Ahmed hesitates and says he is not sure.

That is a superfluous question. After an hour and a half review of Ahmed’s career, the answer is already clear: No, he can not.

Manipluatoren Ahmed

As an 18-year-old, Ahmed took Norway by storm, after launching a mobile cover with a solar panel that charged the mobile. Ahmed and his business partner received support from Innovation Norway and praise from the media, politicians and the royal family. There were only two huge problems: the cover neither worked nor was invented by the two boys.

Was Norway’s entrepreneurial star – everyone was wondering

It got even worse when Ahmed swindled a million dollars by claiming that he had exclusive rights to Justin Bieber’s concerts in Scandinavia. It ended in an FBI investigation and an 11-year prison sentence that Ahmed is serving in the United States.

Ahmed does not come out well from the documentary, and appears as a skilled manipulator who does everything to get rich. Through interviews with an impressively extensive gallery of characters, we also glimpse deeper motivations and causes. Ahmed’s upbringing as the only one with a minority background in Enebakk was characterized by learning difficulties, exclusion and pressure from parents.

Entertaining and engaging

Almost as unflattering as Ahmed, the Norwegian press and business appear. Norwegian media were panegyric in the coverage of him for several years before he was revealed.

Touching and honest Utøya film

As the then Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske says, Ahmed was the perfect case: successful, charismatic and with a minority background. How this could happen, Trier could have drilled even deeper into. However, some were more vigilant than others. Teaching Ahmed is revealed by a principal, a DN journalist and finally the FBI, respectively.

It is a chaotic and entertaining story, and Trier tells it steadily, clearly and stylishly. Reconstructions, surveillance videos and touching footage with Ahmed’s brothers make the documentary lively and engaging.

It is also very satisfying to see other people being deceived, when you are sitting on the edge. You and I, of course, had revealed Ahmed. Or?

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