From Representation to Power: Shifting the Migration Lens
Migration is more than physical movement, it involves complex negotiations of identity, legality, power, and survival. However, global cinema, particularly from the Global North, often presents migration through a Eurocentric lens, portraying migrants as either helpless victims or threats. This perspective reinforces border fears rather than addressing the structural causes of migration.
In contrast, filmmakers from the Global South, especially North Africa are creating alternative narratives rooted in local realities. Their films act as interventions, highlighting postcolonial legacies, economic hardships, and gendered challenges that shape migration. Despite gaining visibility at international film festivals, these directors face persistent barriers in funding, distribution, and creative control.
Notable examples include Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” (2019), which explores the spiritual aftermath of a fatal sea crossing; Jonas Carpignano’s “Mediterranea” (2015), following African migrants in Southern Europe; and Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s “Across the sea “ ( (2024), a restrained portrayal of young Moroccan men seeking escape from socio-economic stagnation. These films avoid romanticizing or demonizing migration, instead inviting reflection on structural despair.
Centering Women in Migration Cinema: Breaking the Silence
However, a critical gap persists in the representation of women in Moroccan migration cinema. Women central actors in migratory processes are frequently marginalized or invisible on screen. In a country like Morocco, both a source and transit zone, this absence reflects broader social and institutional silences. Women are often shown only in relation to men as mothers, lovers, or burdens rarely as independent agents with their own ambitions and struggles.
A Story of Will and Desire: Hard Hands as Feminist Migration Narrative
One notable exception is Hard Hands (Les Mains dures, 2011) by Mohamed Asli. While centered on Mustapha, a barber helping others obtain visas, the film’s emotional core is Zakia, a schoolteacher seeking to reunite with her fiancé in Spain. Her journey is intentional and emotionally complex, portraying her as an autonomous, strategic woman navigating bureaucratic challenges. Zakia’s character offers a rare feminist perspective on migration, combining resilience, desire, and agency.
Toward Structural Inclusion in Storytelling and Power
We chose Asli’s Hard Hands as a rare example of female migration on screen, as few Moroccan films focus specifically on this topic. Meanwhile, an upcoming film by Franco-Moroccan director Leila Marrakchi will explore circular migration among strawberry-picking women, a long-overlooked issue despite past scandals.
Reimagining migration cinema through gendered and decolonial lenses is a political necessity. Moroccan films must move beyond token inclusion and toward deeper narrative justice for women. Cinema holds the power not only to reflect reality but to reshape how it is felt—and whose stories are centered.
Filmography
Asli, M. (Director), (2011), Les Mains dures,Les Films du Rif.
Carpignano, J. (Director),(2015),Mediterranea , RT Features, DCM Productions.
Diop, M. (Director), (2019), Atlantics [Film], Les Films du Bal, Netflix.
Hamich Benlarbi, S. (Director), (2024), La Mer au Loin, Barney Production, Mont Fleuri Productions; Altamar Films.
About the author
Yasmine Bouchfar is a film critic, and PhD candidate in Migration Studies at the University Institute of African, Euro-Mediterranean, and Ibero-American Studies (Mohammed V University, Rabat). With a multidisciplinary background in French literature, media and migration, and computer networks, she brings a unique perspective to her research and cultural engagement.
She is currently the Artistic Director of the International Film Festival of Cinema and Migration in Agadir, where she oversees film selection and curates programming that highlights diverse and underrepresented narratives around migration.
A member of FIPRESCI, FACC, and AMCC, she has served on several prestigious film juries, including as President of the FACC Jury at FESPACO (2021) and member of the FIPRESCI Jury at the Rabat International Auteur Cinema Festival (2023). In 2017, she received the Grand Prix for Film Criticism at the TASMIT Festival in Beni Mellal.
Yasmine is also the founder and president of the Cultures & Migrations Association in Sidi Kacem, promoting intercultural dialogue and cultural access through initiatives such as the ABCDAIRE project, offering creative workshops for youth and women in rural areas.
Her work bridges academic research, film analysis, and community activism, with a strong focus on migration, identity, and inclusive cultural representation.
https://fipresci.org/people/yasmine-bouchfar/
https://www.africine.org/personne/yasmine-bouchfar/54606
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasmine-bouchfar-49b6591b7/?originalSubdomain=ma
https://actuelles.ma/yasmine-bouchfar-lassociation-cultures-migrations-aspire-a-rendre-la-culture-accessible-a-tous/
https://shs.cairn.info/publications-de-yasmine-bouchfar--744047?lang=fr
https://medi1.com/fr/episode/204842/La-critique-de-cin%C3%A9ma-vue-par-Yasmine-Bouchfar