The bar faces another building, made up of a few square rooms overhanging the sea. This building is the Italian border police station, which issues pushback documents everyday for those who, unlike the cyclists, can’t cross the border into France if they are coming from Italy with no visa or passport. Many of them try to cross by train; when they get to the first station in France, called Menton Garavan, the French police blocks the train and performs an identity check.
This is the border that the Stories in Motion project focuses on. The border is just outside Menton, the first municipality in France, and about 9km away from Ventimiglia, the first municipality in Italy.
Other relevant places are the aforementioned Menton Garavan train station, which is where most undocumented migrants are stopped after trying to cross by train. The Italian and the French border police offices are around 1km away from this station.
Right above them are the mountains that frame the Roya valley; some people try to cross the border through the mountains, too.
Why are we here? And how do people on the move end up stuck in Ventimiglia, pushed back from France?
