En Route to Europe, We Burn or Die
country, year
Tunisia, 2024
genre
documentary
running time
74’
directed by
Noureddine Jebnoun; Jakob Plaschke
languages
English, French, Arabic
about the film
In the port city of Zarzis in southern Tunisia, the sea has always been a space of mobility. However, Fortress Europe continues to entrench its sea walls and extend proxy borders into North and West Africa, sponsoring local coercive apparatuses. Such measures have turned journeys of hope into deadly crossings, forcing illegalized and irregularized travelers seeking to overcome political, economic and social marginalization in search of better opportunities into increasing violence and risk. Through interviews in and around Zarzis EN ROUTE TO EUROPE, WE BURN OR DIE weaves together the stories of individuals who are navigating precarity amid deadly border control mechanisms across Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.
about the author
Noureddine Jebnoun is a Tunisian-American scholar who teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the School of Foreign Service. His research focuses on cross-border movements including migration politics, refugees and internal displacement in the Sahara-Sahel region, among other academic areas of research and interest. EN ROUTE TO EUROPE, WE BURN OR DIE is his debut film.
