VUB research project Reel Borders brings testimonies of ‘cross-border’ women to European Parliament

VUB research project Reel Borders brings testimonies of ‘cross-border’ women to European Parliament

Brussels, 10 October 2023 - VUB Reel Borders, a research project at the Faculty of Social Sciences, financed by the European Research Council, looks at the relationship between borders and cinema. Its central objective is to create a broader awareness of women who work in EU border regions but who don’t have the required documentation. The current focus is on the precarious situation of hundreds of Moroccan women who have worked for years without documentation in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, which borders Morocco.

Selma and Sarima during one of the recording sessions of the participatory filmmaking workshop       © Reel Borders
Selma and Sarima during one of the recording sessions of the participatory filmmaking workshop ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ © Reel Borders
One of the stills of the participatory filmmaking workshop exploring faceless modes of representation © Reel Borders
One of the stills of the participatory filmmaking workshop exploring faceless modes of representation © Reel Borders

Increased security measures for non-European border workers in the EU after the closure of borders during the Covid-19 pandemic mean they have no access to healthcare or education, can’t return to Morocco to visit family and cannot even renew their passport status.

Irene Gutiérrez, a filmmaker from Ceuta and promotor of the project, used participatory filmmaking as a research technique to make 26 short films with 13 “cross-border” women, exploring the precarious situation they are due to their lack of legal status.

Participatory filmmaking is a series of methods in which a group or community is involved in designing and making their own films. The 26 films were brought together in the web documentary ABCeuta: the Alphabet of the Border.

“For Reel Borders, visibility begins with recognising what happens at the borders of the EU from the perspective of the people who live and work there,” says VUB professor Kevin Smets, coordinator and lead researcher of Reel Borders. “The goal of using participatory filmmaking as a research methodology is to amplify the voices of these women, who are looking for action and response.”

On 11 October at 15.00, the Reel Borders team will present three of these short films at the European Parliament, followed by a discussion on labour, gender and mobility in the EU and its external borders. It will feature Kathleen Van Brempt and Thijs Reuten of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Damian Boeselager of the Greens–European Free Alliance, Alyssa Ahrabare of the European Network of Migrant Women, Abir Al-Sahlani of Renew Europe Group, and Grace Papa of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions.


Register for the event:

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=ZirL6kslFkycptqTS3QUD8XdBTPPJB9MtRy43HrlMlBUNjhPMVA0WldWQ0xGNU41T1RSU05KQTdUVC4u


Contact

Prof Kevin Smets: +32 473 34 41 05, Kevin.Smets@vub.be

Irene Gutiérrez: +34 679 98 37 95

Reel Borders website

 

Koen Stein
Koen Stein Perscontact wetenschap & innovatie

 

 

ES
About Press - Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an internationally oriented university in Brussels, the heart of Europe. By providing excellent research and education on a human scale, VUB wants to make an active and committed contribution to a better society.

The World Needs You

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel assumes its scientific and social responsibility with love and decisiveness. That’s why VUB launched the platform De Wereld Heeft Je Nodig – The World Needs You, which brings together ideas, actions and projects based on six Ps. The first P stands for People, because that’s what it’s all about: giving people equal opportunities, prosperity, welfare, respect. Peace is about fighting injustice, big and small, in the world. Prosperity combats poverty and inequality. Planet stands for actions on biodiversity, climate, air quality, animal rights... With Partnership, VUB is looking for joint actions to make the world a better place. The sixth and last P is for Poincaré, the French philosopher Henri Poincaré, from whom VUB derives its motto that thinking should submit to nothing except the facts themselves. VUB is an ‘urban engaged university’, strongly anchored in Brussels and Europe and working according to the principles of free research.

www.vub.be/dewereldheeftjenodig

 


Press - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Brussel