Through Whose Eyes? Discrimination, Vulnerability, and Global Trespassers in Documentaries about Girls Crossing Borders

Abstract

Although the concept of ‘feminisation of migration’ has gained prominence since the 1980s, the stories of refugee and migrant girls remain largely overlooked. While digital platforms have recently enabled these girls to reclaim their narratives and share lived
experiences of growing up on the move, adult- produced documentaries still tend to portray them primarily as vulnerable. This framing undermines their roles as agents of social change and limits the transformative potential of their stories. To explore this
tension, this article examines the representation of girls crossing national borders in two 21st- century documentaries: Crossing the Border to Go to School in the U.S. (2020) and Ein Weiter Weg Wohin? (Further, But Where?) (2020).1 The former follows Mexican
sisters who commute daily; the latter recounts the journey of a Syrian refugee girl. Drawing on postcolonial, feminist, and childhood studies, the article analyses how these documentaries, while illuminating underexamined lives, reveal instances of what is here
termed ‘triple colonisation’. It challenges the assumption that individual gendered life stories automatically transform global perspectives, arguing instead that traditional documentary forms can obstruct the translation of personal migration narratives into
broader critical debates. The article then identifies moments of ‘global trespassing’ within these narratives, drawing on John McLeod’s recent work (2024) on transnational storytelling. By centring the girls’ own perspectives rather than adult constructions of vulnerability, this approach highlights how they navigate and disrupt adult-and gender-imposed boundaries while forging connections across borders. Contributing to debates on representation in migration narratives, this article underscores the need to amplify the voices of migrant and refugee girls and to reimagine, rather than constrain, their transgressive and transformative potential.