Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Senior Integrative Project

Abstract

In a divided society, creative mediums such as filmmaking are often used to counter hegemonic narratives to criticize forms of oppression. This engaged artistic narrative thus intends to raise questions on how promoting social cohesiveness between cultures can effectively contribute to the current political climate. Innumerable films of this type have tackled challenging subjects with the same aim, one of them being migration. This essay will bring to light the complexities of undocumented migration through the study of two documentaries made by Italian filmmakers Gianfranco Rosi and Andrea Segre. Additionally, it will examine Italy’s migrant crisis and its history of white privilege to contextualize Rosi’s and Segre’s migratory visual representations in documentary filmmaking focusing on Lampedusa, one of the primary European entry points for North African, Central African, and Middle Eastern refugees. These analyses, accompanied by a personal statement on the power of local and global-scale storytelling, will reveal how films from different corners of the world may be used to counter monological narratives and as educational tools to encourage intercultural understanding and thereby invite viewers to consider the interconnectedness of people across borders.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.