The Fourth Road, Aulò, Beyond the frame, and Maka: A Study Guide

Abstract

This study guide is aimed to help students explore four documentaries about postcolonial culture in Italy: The Fourth Road, Aulò, Beyond the Frame, and Maka. It is the result of a reflection and collective work by a professor who wrote the films and a teaching assistant and previous student of a course on migration studies. Each film features a prominent African Italian writer, respectively Kaha Mohamed Aden, Ribka Sibhatu, Ubah Cristina Ali Farah and Geneviève Makaping. After a brief plot summary, the study guide includes questions about various elements of cinematic style, such as sound, lighting, and genre conventions. It also explores themes related to migration cultures, including the feelings of multiple belonging and unbelonging experienced by immigrants. Additionally, the guide investigates spatial issues such as ghettoization, the spatialization of memory, and the concept of intimate and affective geography. Specific questions address the histories of Somalia, Eritrea, Cameroon, and Italy.