Fury on the Shortwave – An Anti-War Film Dealing with A Trail of Tears with Dark Humour
Fury on the Shortwave, a new anti-war short film written, directed, and produced by Khalid Hasan Khan, offers a darkly satirical look at how war narratives infiltrate everyday life through media.
The film with the tagline “War Amplified, Hunger Intensified” stars veteran theatre artist, Wali Shaikh, as a lone man trapped in a city where the electric grid has been hacked and cable television has gone silent amid a regional conflict. With only a shortwave radio left for connection to the outside world, he begins scanning stations across borders and frequencies.
At first bored, he gradually turns into an ironic commentator on the dramatic announcements of radio hosts, war bulletins, economic speculation, propaganda, and market profiteering. As the voices on air grow increasingly sensational, the man finds himself strangely entertained by the unfolding chaos. Slowly, he begins to mirror the tone and rhythm of the broadcasters, almost becoming a human radio himself.
But the illusion of distant war collapses, when he realizes that the real consequences, the newborn twins of war: famine and disease, are not far from his own doorstep.
Through minimal setting and sharp dialogue, Fury on the Shortwave examines the transformation of an ordinary listener into a passive consumer of conflict, questioning how media can normalize violence and economic opportunism during wartime.
The film is an original screenplay by Khalid Hasan Khan, whose cinematic work often blends political satire with minimalist storytelling.
About Khalid Hasan Khan
Khalid Hasan Khan is an independent award-winning filmmaker, a Hollywood graduate, known for socially conscious short films and experimental narratives, exploring how media, technology, and power shape human perception in times of crisis. He has won over 26 international awards with over 100 screenings in the international film circuits.
