We have co-produced a series of participatory films with transnational families and community researchers in France, Sweden, the UK and Spain to inform members of the public, policymakers and practitioners about the lived realities of caring across borders for transnational family members.
Watch all our films on our YouTube Channel: @CAREWELLTransnationalFamilies
UK
A series of short films from the UK team highlight key messages for policymakers and practitioners from the Transnational Families in Europe: Care, Inequalities and Wellbeing research project. They were co-produced by the UK team with transnational families in the UK and Rank and File Theatre, who have lived experience of migration, sanctuary-seeking and disability.
Young Caregiving in Transnational Families: This film highlights the pressures that young people may face when providing care for family members both ‘here’ (in settlement countries) and ‘there’ (in other countries) in transnational families.
See also the French, Spanish and Swedish language versions:
Jeunes aidants dans les familles transnationales (French)
El cuidado de los jóvenes en las familias transnacionales (Spanish)
Applying for a Visa to Meet Care Needs: This film shows a transnational family’s frustrations and challenges in applying for a visa for a family member to visit the UK to meet their care needs.
Addressing Barriers to ESOL Classes: This film shows the challenges that migrants face to access accredited courses of English Language for Speakers of Other Languages, based on our research with transnational families.
Refugee Families Caring and Seeking Reunification: This film focuses on the challenges refugee families may face when trying to care for family members at a distance, and when trying to reunite with extended family members in the UK.
Language and Interpretation Needs in Accessing Healthcare: This film shows the difficulties that migrants, asylum seekers and refugees may face when trying to access health or other services due to language barriers.
France
Two documentary films were co-produced with transnational families in France using collaborative ethnographic approaches. Here are the trailers:
Lejos de los ojos, cerca del corazón/ Out of sight, close to the heart (trailer, 2023), produced by Polina Palash and Luc Thauvin, University of Aix-Marseille. This documentary is based on ethnographic research about intergenerational support within a Colombian family shaped by migration for over two decades.
Around the Tanur (trailer, 2023) produced by Assaf Dahdah (CR CNRS en géographie (UMR ART-Dev), Gaël Marsaud and Burhan Roto: Build a tanur, make the bread. Settle in and start living. Coming from overseas, talking about the past. A Yezidi family deals with exile, reconfigures kinship between France and Iraq, and tells its story about working in the fields.
Spain
The Spain team produced two documentaries which feature contributions from community researchers and transnational families who participated in the fieldwork conducted in Spain.
The film CareWell: Immigration and Transnational Care provides valuable insights into the health, economic, social, and emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on transnational families, highlighting their care and mobility strategies.
The film, CareWell: Reflections on the PhotoVoice method in Spain reflects on the PhotoVoice method used by the Spain team and community researchers with transnational family members across different countries in Africa and Latin America.
Sweden
Brigitte Suter and Katarina Mozetič, Malmö University, Sweden, together with project partner, the Swedish Church (Lund Diocese) and the peer researchers, has produced three short movies documenting some of the issues transnational families face in Sweden, based on research with families. Each depicts the story of a transnational family with specific caring arrangements, addressing various aspects of their realities.
‘Together in difficult times’ reflects on the role of the peer researcher and discusses the importance of proximate family relations for those with care needs and responsibilities.
‘A patient is a patient’ follows the story of a family with irregular legal status in Sweden where a brother takes care of his sister with physical and mental impairments and his aging, ill mother.
‘Caring across distance’ delves into how family members provide care for one another across borders.