Abstract

Leroyer’s documentary, #387 disparu en Méditerranée (2019), tracks the attempt to reconstruct the identity of migrants lost off the coast of Libya whereas Allouache’s metatextual Normal! (2011) captures elliptically the effects of the Arab Spring in Alger. Through the lens of both films, the relevance of adopting a transregional approach in order to analyze communities in motion becomes apparent: Leroyer’s documentary shifts both in its geographical coordinates around the Mediterranean and in its inclusion of individuals working together across different languages whereas Allouache’s film explores the “connected differences” (Audre Lorde) of individuals associated with Algeria, sub-Saharan Africa and France and caught in the thrall of the Arab spring. Allouache’s and Leroyer’s films, screened at Montpellier’s annual Cinémed, clearly do contribute to the transregional network of Mediterranean cinema. The juxtaposition of the two films, which track migration at different points along the spectrum, brings to light the potential for community solidarity and resistance beyond a national scale without glossing over the shadow sides of transregionalism. Drawing on recent geo-political assessments of transregionalism (for instance, James W. Scott and Hans-Joachim Bürkner), this article investigates how the potential and the limits of transregional solidarity are imagined in Leroyer’s documentary, #387 disparu en Méditerranée, and Allouache’s docudrama, Normal!.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.