Redefining British social realism through the female migrant gaze: the work of Sarah Gavron

Résumé de la communication : This presentation explores the 2019 film of British filmmaker Sarah Gavron entitled Rocks, in order to interrogate questions of cultural belonging within the sphere of British multiculturalism. Gavron began her career in filmmaking as a director of documentaries before venturing into feature filmmaking with her 2007 tale of female migrant temporality, Brick Lane. The film chronicles the struggles of a Bangladeshi Muslim woman in post 9/11 London and simultaneously showcases Gavron’s sympathetic approach toward migrants’ struggles and especially those of women and girls. 2015 saw the release of Suffragette which cemented Gavron’s reputation as a feminist filmmaker and a uniquely female voice within the male-dominated social realist tradition of British cinema. Her third film, Rocks, set in the poor migrant districts of East London, bears the mark of an auteur with a characteristic gaze on schoolgirls from a diasporic and migrant background without the miserabilism often associated with social realism. With Rocks, Gavron challenges Brexit – era anxieties around multiculturalism and forces audiences to question liberal notions on diversity. In fact, the director renders clear the dictum of postcolonial theory which calls for an unequivocal engagement with cultural difference beyond the superficial logic of multiculturalism. I will first contextualize then examine Gavron’s unique approach to the subject at hand through textual analysis of select scenes and through an interdisciplinary lens, utilizing theoretical frameworks of film studies, media representation and postcolonial theory. 

Biographie de l'auteur : Philip Phillis holds a PhD in Film Studies from the University of Glasgow. He is the author of Greek Cinema and Migration (1991-2016) (Edinburgh University Press 2020) and has also published extensively on European cinema and migrant representation, Greek film culture and transnationalism in several peer reviewed journals.  He has taught Film and Media Studies at The University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. He has also taught and presented his research at Several French institutions and is currently teaching English and Film at The University of Caen France.