The Mediterranean Seametery and Cementery in Leïla Kilani’s and Tariq Teguia’s Filmic Works

Abstract

This chapter proposes new perspectives on the Mediterranean by examining the sea and the cities bordering it through the angle of clandestine migration. While the premodern Mediterranean is often depicted as a crossroads, this chapter argues that today’s Mediterranean has become a dead end for migrants and refugees attempting northward sea crossings amidst heightened anti-immigration policies and prejudice. Through the concepts of the Seametery and cementery, the chapter contends that confinement practices have contributed to the transformation of the Mediterranean Sea into a sea-cemetery and African cities into city-cemeteries. A study of two Moroccan films demonstrates that forced immobility has placed death at the core of an increasing number of contemporary North African filmic narratives.