Q&A with the filmmakers 

Professor Cathy Mcllwaine and Mario Arrabal Cid

Audience reactions

'Opening dialogue around migration in the UK has never been more important - and both Prof. Mcllwaine and Mario Arrabal Cid's short films achieved just that. They laid bare the challenges facing both Latin American and Spanish immigrants with their authentic interviews and striking performance art - highlighting quite how underrepresented the Hispanic-speaking demographic is in the wider conversation around immigration.' (Meg Sansom, Spanish student)

'On the 4th March at the event organised by Anabel and Irene we were fortunate enough to be joined by film makers Mario Arabal Cid and Cathy McIlwaine.

Towards Visibility (2016) directed by Cathy McIlwaine and Diego Bunge considered the difficult experiences of migrants from Latin America living in London, many of whom had migrated earlier to Spain and then moved on from there (at a time when EU passports gave access to the UK and unemployment in Spain was rising). The precariousness of their circumstances is often made worse by language difficulties leading to employment in unregulated activities, often forcing them to take on more than one job because of low pay.

This work had been filmed pre-Covid and pre-Brexit at a time when the 2008 financial crisis had already made employment conditions worse. Now the difficulties have multiplied.

Migrants (2020) directed by Mario Arabal Cid introduced us to the backgrounds and experiences of a number of Spanish migrants to Sheffield, full of entertaining details demonstrating the variety of their circumstances, showing how hard it is to generalise about what it means to be a migrant. The participants talking directly to camera put across a clear message.

The third film, We still fight in the dark (2022) by Migrants in Action {MinA} and Cathy McIlwaine focussed on the experience of gender violence experience by Brazilian women living in London, and was developed from a research project and transformed into a powerful piece of performance art.

The three films together reinforced the themes of the difficulty of living as migrants, and the range of migrant experiences (as many of the audience members understood from their own lives). Thanks to all who participated in the Q&A session.'  (Mike Henderson, Spanish student)