Borders in Globalization Podcast

#17 BIG Podcast - “Border Film and Border Studies” - With: Michael Dear – Professor Emeritus of City & Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, California, United States

03.26.2023 - By BIGPlay

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Borders are legal constructs: conventional lines on maps, landmarks on the ground, zone of cooperation, control and violence. But borders are also an artistic object. Sometimes, it is the border itself which is the support of a work of art. Other times, they appear in works of photography, comics, and in movies. Today we are going to talk about “Border Film” with Michael Dear who has just published a book called « Border Witness, Reimagining The US-Mexico Borderlands Through Film ». It is an opportunity to learn more about the construction of mental, cultural and artistic representations of borders and their complex links with reality.

 Time Markers:

00:00 Our Guest today: Michael Dear

01:51 What is Border Film?

02:50 The specific representations of the borderlands featured in Border Film

06:55 The idea of “Border Witness” Book

13:17 Multiple Experiences about Borders

16:08 The 3 parts of the Book (Origins, Fusions and Witness)

21:32 The Key Messages

25:02 Other representations of the border: zone of cultural mixing and connective tissue

30:09 Linkages Border Studies/Border Films

34:45 How have film representations of the borderlands evolved over time?

43:22 “Border Film Genre”

47:43 How can films and cinema help us better understand the phenomenon of borders and bordering processes?

52:32 Recommendations: Which Border Films Should We Watch?

57:10 How does coverage of the Mexican-US border in film compare with other borderland films elsewhere in the World?

Websites:

BIG Website: ⁠https://biglobalization.org  ⁠

JMN Website: ⁠https://www.uvic.ca/humanities/intd/europe/eu-grants/network/hmsdata-20-23/index.php⁠

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