As part of the ERC-funded project Reel Borders, researchers and participants joined forces to create a series of films addressing questions of border experiences, citizenship and belonging, trauma, and memory. Kevin Smets of Vrije Universiteit Brussel highlights that the questions regarding their “afterlife” are also important.

Borders play a pivotal role in shaping the worldwide political landscape. The thriving field of critical border studies highlights how these borders are not fixed, nor experienced the same way by all: they result from social and cultural constructs. Film serves as a key medium where borders are continuously constructed and deconstructed, from the vast legacy of western movies that portray the “frontier” ideology in North America, to documentaries about the cross-border plight of refugees. On screen, borders lend themselves to exploring and narrating issues of national identity, belonging, and trauma.

The space that film offers to document, analyse, and represent borders in their many facets forms the foundation of the Reel Borders project. In addition to studying existing “border films”, the project sought to harness film’s potential to learn from the lived experiences of ‘borderlanders’ – people and communities who navigate the geopolitical realities of borders daily. These individuals inhabit, for better or worse, the border regions shaped by complex histories.

Participatory filmmaking: different approaches

There is no single way to make a film. The motivations of those involved, the available resources, and the infrastructures vary widely. Similarly, the participatory filmmaking approach encompasses significant variation. At its core, it allows a group or community to shape their own films according to their needs and the representations they find most just. Rooted in experimental documentary filmmaking and visual anthropology, participatory filmmaking is often a longer process, incorporating multiple perspectives and fostering emancipatory dynamics in response to oppression.

In Reel Borders, these principles were translated into practice by documentary filmmaker and PhD researcher Irene Gutiérrez Torres. The project organized filmmaking workshops for non-professionals in three distinct borderlands, in collaboration with civil society partners such as cultural institutions, migrant and women’s organizations, and educators. Each workshop had its own unique dynamic, shaped by the co-creation of knowledge with participants and the promotion of collaborative creativity. The specific historical contexts of each border and the structural inequalities faced by participants demanded a highly reflexive methodology, addressing transparency, consent, and the ethics of representation. Irene Gutiérrez Torres recently reflected on these issues in her account of the three-month filmmaking workshop in Ceuta, on the Moroccan-Spanish border.

Who are the films for?

In participatory filmmaking, the process is often more important than the final product. Some of the guiding questions for the process were:

• What did participants want to say?
• How did they develop stories as a group?
• Which cinematic tools did they use?

As with many research projects, the process eventually took on a life of its own. In the end, 35 short films were produced, ranging from documentaries and essay films to fiction. Research participants took on various roles, including scriptwriters, directors, cinematographers, editors, actors, and even distributors. The incredible engagement of the participants in creating, analysing, and sharing their situated knowledge about their borderlands was immensely rewarding. However, this also placed significant ethical responsibility on the research team to ensure shared ownership and align the films’ purposes with the participants’ needs.

This raises a simple yet tricky question: who are these films for? In this project, the answer was shaped by the participatory filmmaking approach. The films could not become part of a for-profit or commercial enterprise (funded through a public research grant), and the participants had the final say on their purpose and audience.

The afterlives of the films

Once a film is made, it takes on a life of its own. In its “afterlife,” a film might appear in unexpected places, become forgotten and rediscovered, inspire millions, or touch only a handful of people. For Reel Borders, creating a truly participatory strategy for the films’ afterlives was crucial.

The dissemination strategy was tailored to the specific audiences identified by participants in each workshop. Led by Irene Gutiérrez Torres in collaboration with film distribution experts in each border area, this process engaged participants as active collaborators. In her IMISCOE PhD blog post, Irene has described how this involved everyone in the process. For instance, participants from the Irish border in Derry aimed to reach local border communities, while those in Ceuta sought to raise awareness among national and European policymakers. In Turkey, young filmmakers wanted their films screened at festivals to build professional portfolios for future careers.

Attention to the films’ afterlives also involved navigating complex questions of voice, ownership, and representation. Wherever possible, participants represented and “owned” their films by attending screenings or speaking to the press about their stories. However, limitations emerged. For example, two participants from Ceuta, domestic workers from Morocco, were unable to attend the long-awaited screening of their films at the European Parliament, where they had intended to address the policymakers who might have an impact on their situations. Their films highlighted their legal limbo, worsened by COVID-19 re-bordering measures that left them unable to regularize their status, update passports, or travel. Their absence meant the screening could not fully reflect their involvement in the filmmaking process.

Securing the films’ future

After sharing the films with their intended audiences, the next challenge is ensuring their long-term accessibility. To respect the wishes of participants, the films will remain available online but in contexts that allow for nuance and detailed information about their creation.

For instance, the films made at the Irish border have been integrated into the Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive as a special collection, whereas the films from Ceuta are hosted on the webdoc ABCeuta, which provides historical context and includes a petition supporting the cause of the filmmakers and the hundreds of cross-border workers they represent. Several of the films have also been added to the repository of the Radical Film Network’s, which emphasises solidarity and a progressive look on film.

Through these efforts, the films are finding sustainable homes that align with the needs of participants. There, these collaborative stories about life on the border can continue to enrich much-needed discussion about border regimes and their impacts on communities.

To learn more about the project, visit www.reelborders.eu. Many thanks go out to Irene Gutiérrez Torres for her work in the participatory filmmaking workshop and feedback on the post, as well as to the partner organizations in Derry (Nerve Centre), Ceuta (Digmun Association) and Adana (Özgür Sinematek and Çukurova University), along with the participants to the workshops.

This post gives the views of the author and not the position of the Media@LSE blog, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.