Geographies of Film: The Map and the Border

Funded by Grand Challenges Doctoral Small Grant

Changes in the political landscape in the UK and around the world have seen borders tighten or be brought into question – we can think of the Irish-Northern Irish border, the US-Mexico Border, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and recent occurrences in Kashmir. In geographical thought borders are a line on the map, but also something that has to be made manifest through materials (the wall, the fence, the security camera) or through humans enacting the border’s existence (passport control, border patrols etc.)

Film offers a visual way of culturally understanding how the border is made manifest, how it forces bodies to perform sovereignty, gender and race. But film is also worthy of attention because, as a medium, it has the capacity to transcend borders and travel globally. So the project aimed to not only think about the existence of localised border struggles, but also think with moving image that seeks to map the globe in its totality, for instance through commodity chains, or labour movement. 

The event aimed to will bring together attendants from across the university and the public for a day-long event held at UCL. The day would be split into film screenings followed by discussions between invited speakers and attendants. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event could not take place. 

Image credit: Photo by USGS on Unsplash