On the Making of Maka: Collaborative Practices, Autotheory, and Diversity

ABSTRACT This article draws on Mieke Bal's reflections about the use of the documentary film as a way to explore migration cultures from a scholarly perspective, and it chronicles the production of Maka (2022), a film about Geneviève Makaping's life and thoughts on race and belonging. It focuses on the collaboration and dialogue with Makaping and director Elia Moutamid, among other members of the creative team, and it argues that collaboration and dialogue can have an impact beyond the academic context. Indeed, Maka is a hybrid work that blends theory and biographical storytelling, and it is therefore accessible to a larger audience. Documentaries involve self-reflective practices which might be useful to interrogate our position throughout the research process and to reflect upon the ethical questions which are involved in scholarly work about migration cultures.