Bruxelles in traduzione: 'Our city' di Maria Tarantino

Abstract

Brussels in translation: Our city by Maria Tarantino

This article focuses on Our city (2015), Maria Tarantino’s documentary on the city of Brussels and its growing diversity. With her work as a documentarist Tarantino is part of the generation of directors who have contributed to the rebirth of the Italian documentary film. Our city explores the relationship between migrants and their host city, an issue which has received little attention in migration literature and in the public debate until now. Drawing on Sandro Mezzadra and Brett Neilson’s concepts of ‘border’ and ‘borderscape’, the article argues that Tarantino’s documentary film counters the mainly negative and stereotypical media coverage with a more dynamic and multifaceted image of the metropolis. More particularly, the study analyses the formal features (involving voice(s), translation, framing and editing) which support the open and radical idea of citizenship proposed in Tarantino’s film.