Every country is different of course, but in the US you have a right to have your film hand inspected; if the inspector refuses, ask to see his or her supervisor. But, first try to make it easy for the inspector; remember they don't want to waste time with you. If you are carrying 35mm, remove the film from the boxes, and put them in a plastic bag.
Which, I did. Sometimes with or without a x-ray protection bag. But in situations like where by the time you reach that point of inspection, you're shoe-less and standing without your belt on so you're holding up your pants with your hand, and you look behind you, there's a long line and that makes you real conscious about how not to waste anyone's time there, and then your request for a hand-search is being denied completely, what will you do?
This is not hypothetical, but often true even a few years back in the U.S., where I once shared a moment of fear with a 80 year-old(or very old) woman who's frightened by the security force and we both went speechless.
And a very similar approach has been taken by the security forces at the airports in some other countries as well ever since.
Also, at that time in the U.S., my friends all warned me not to even try to bring any film and think I could get passed without any damage. Indeed, my friends had just had a bunch of undeveloped film rolls mostly 400 ASA all baked at the airport by the x-ray machine at the inspection for his carry-on luggage. So, I got very skeptical.
By the way, Istanbul in early 2004 was, continuing from my past post, due to the previous terror attack, just as hastle as any major cities in the U.S. as I remember of. That's what I wanted to say.
But my focus is overseas(outside the U.S.), where your common knowledge doesn't apply and you may not practice your rights. How do you fellow film photographers get by and bring their film safe home from the countries that are rough on them? Is is just that FedEx and its affiliates do the job? But they are often not in any convenient locations outside the U.S. and the most of the cities abroad.
How about traveling to the Middle East? For instance, to fly in and out of Israel, which I'm planning to do in the near future for my photography for the first time, what should I be prepared for?
Sorry to drag this issue a bit, but if anyone could start posting their replies with their experiences with more specific details(location/airport, year, situation, etc), that would be wonderful. Doesn't have to be real specific though as long as others can get a good sense of what it is like and be able to clarify the uncertainty a bit at each location.
