(b.1975, Casablanca, Morocco)


Bouchra Khalili's videos and installations focus on displacement and migration, and the relationships between physical and psychological geographies. She has mapped the tortuous and clandestine travels of illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and nomads across straits and borders in search of freedom, refuge, work, a better life, or escape from repression. In recreating these journeys, image and sound take different routes; as Khalili explains: 'in my work, the sound is the opposite of the voice-over; the sound does not explain the image, it participates in the making of the image.' She places great importance on documenting refugees' specific languages; their individual narratives of exile and loss are told in their mother tongues.

As well as making her own work, Khalili is committed to promoting Arab and innovative international cinema. She is the co-founder of La CinŽmathque de Tanger, whose mission is to develop film culture in Morocco. Khalili's own films have been shown at festivals galleries and museums worldwide, including the Sharjah Biennial in 2010 and New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2011.