For those that have the FBI and James Comey on the brain, the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival might have a cure for what ails you. Or, you could find yourself more screwed up than before. Either way, we’d like to call your attention to a couple of offerings at this year’s fest that are sure to get your brain cells firing when it comes to conversations concerning the FBI.

Having its world premiere at Tribeca is The Feeling of Being Watched, a documentary from journalist Assia Boundaoui in which she looks into rumors that Bridgeview, the Arab-American community where she grew up just south of Chicago, has been under surveillance for decades. What she discovers, after much persistence, is proof of a pre-9/11 FBI counterterrorism probe code-named “Operation Vulgar Betrayal.” The paranoia her family and neighbors have experienced over the years turns out to be warranted.

Boundaoui, who has reported for BBC, NPR, VICE and CNN, has the chops to tie this timely and gripping doc together. The film is also a wonderful hybrid that conjoins the personal documentary form with the investigative. The Feeling of Being Watched, which screens in Tribeca’s Viewpoints sections, makes its debut on Saturday, April 21.

Another event that could offer a good FBI reality check is the conversation between Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras and former HBO Documentary Films head Shelia Nevins. Poitras was under FBI investigation for six years, which she attributes to her controversial films about life in Yemen and Iraq post-9/11. Her 2014 documentary Citizenfour, about Edward Snowden, helped expose the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities. In 2016, Poitras had a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of America Art entitled Astro Noise, which also dealt with the subject of mass surveillance. She followed that project up with RISK, her film about WikiLeak’s editor-in-chief Julian Assange. Poitras also served as executive producer on 1971, a documentary about the Citizen’s Commission, a group of everyday citizens who broke into an FBI office, stole hundreds of secret documents and shared them with the public. Given her passion for these topics, we’re guessing (and hoping) a question or two during this talk will probe Poitras’ opinions regarding the FBI and Comey.

Tribeca Talks: Director’s Series – Laura Poitras and Sheila Nevins is set for Saturday, April 28.

For more information about these events and to purchase tickets, visit the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival website.