Un trabajo limpio (A Clean Job)

2007 | 20mins | Colour
Directed by Mieke Bal & Gary Ward

Genre: Documentary
Spanish with English subtitles

Entering Europe in the South of Spain, some move on, some stay.

Murcia, in the South of Spain, is one of those cities where many immigrants arrive. This city is the setting of Un trabajo limpio (A Clean Job), a looped video of twenty minutes. Wherever you enter the video, someone will be talking: about school and the point of studying; sports and other hobbies; boyfriends and girlfriends; language and work; residence permits and places to stay; Spain and the country of origin. And, of course, about migration.

Each speaker says something brief but incisive, then, loosely associated, the next statement comes in. The resulting fabric is not a narrative. Rather, as a dialogue fabricated by montage, or an alternation of different view points, the video is best seen as a poem. The loop gives form to the non-linearity and non-hierarchy of the situation presented. It also diffuses the notion that a single idea concerning migratory culture can meaningfully be proposed.

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