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In order to demonstrate some of the multiple nodes that must be considered in any construction of a meaningful theory of ‘cinéma-monde’ (production, narrative, economic context; the migration of films, filmmakers, and actors), this chapter explores floating ‘francophone’ films. In these films, cinéma-monde is not mapped exclusively along the boundaries of French-speaking countries, regions, or zones, nor is it exclusively extra-Hexagonal. These ‘boat films’ are set on small vessels (L'iceberg by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy, 2005, Belgium) and freighters, which circulate goods but also people and languages – Diego Star (Frédérick Pelletier, 2013, Canada/Belgium), and Fidelio, l'odyssée d'Alice (Lucie Borleteau, 2014, France) – or narrate the perilous crossing by sea to European territory, as in Harragas (Merzak Alouache, 2009, Algeria/France) and La pirogue (Moussa Touré, 2012, France/Senegal/Germany). This chapter theorizes sea voyages for work and migration within the context of contemporary border theories, North-South migration debates, and cinematic production networks.

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This chapter attempts to answer the questions: ‘what, and where, is Belgian road cinema?’ Doing so involves considering the European-ness of Belgian film as well as its national specificity and connection to wider French-language cultural categories and industries. This chapter analyses five films: Eldorado (Bouli Lanners, 2008), L'iceberg (Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy, 2005), Quand la mer monte (Jeanne Moreau and Gilles Porte, 2004), Les folles aventures de Simon Konianski/Simon Konianski (Micha Wald, 2008) and Aaltra (Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine, 2004, France/Belgium).Although these voyages generally engage with national culture – or cultures, in the case of Belgium – the limits of the nation-state no longer adequately contain the cultures and spaces explored in Belgian road cinema. Citizenship in contemporary Belgium is reframed as inherently linked to mobility, a stance that rejects fixed, monolithic identity formulations and the closed spaces associated with national identities and conceptions of Fortress Europe.

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