This web documentary showcases 26 short essay films created during a participatory filmmaking (PF) workshop in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa bordering Morocco.

Participatory filmmaking is a visual arts method for people to create their own films, mainly used for pedagogical, research, and advocacy purposes.

Between October and December 2022, thirteen Moroccan cross-border women who live in Ceuta and work in the domestic service shared their stories of long-term precarity due to their irregular situation through this method.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened their situation as, from 2020 to the present, they have been restricted from entering Morocco to visit their loved ones and friends due to their irregular status. They can also not cross to renew their passports and start the regularisation process with their employers because, since June 2022, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has required them to have a valid residence or work permit to re-enter Ceuta. According to local unions and NGOs, they represent a total of 800 women in Ceuta and around 2000 people in Ceuta and Melilla. Because of this, we have launched a petition.

Award-winning filmmaker and Reel Borders PhD researcher from Ceuta, Irene Gutiérrez, led the PF workshop as one of the sub-studies of the research project. It was hosted by the local NGO Digmun (the Association for the Dignity of Women and Children of Ceuta), which has been providing language literacy and legal support to Moroccan cross-border women since 2005.

The workshop was covered by local and national press and TV channels. A selection of four short films were screened at the public library of Ceuta on December 22nd, followed by a Q&A with the creators. Since then, the shorts have been part of multiple artistic, scientific, and educational events in the search for visibility, awareness and response.

Watch the short films below.
The full collection will be finished soon!

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by Khadija