Assia Boundaoui grew up in the Arab-American neighborhood of Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago which counts among its residents about 200 Muslim families.

When she explores her neighbors' experiences, Assia discovers thousands of pages of FBI documents which prove that the neighborhood was the subject of counter-terrorism investigation before the September 11 attacks.

[3][4] Credits adapted from Rotten Tomatoes:[5] On 23 September 2019, director Assia Boundaoui and producer Alex Bushe launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a documentary film.

As it pieces together the timeline of events in the director's Chicago suburb and beyond, The Feeling of Being Watched takes shape as an incisive inquiry".

[2] Guy Lodge writing for Variety wrote: "Shot and cut to match its maker's no-nonsense drive, this tense, frightening film culminates in a more hopeful call to activist arms, finding as much security in ethnic and religious communities as others do suspicion".