The multicultural nation in New Zealand cinema: production-text-reception

Abstract

This book is about representation and the importance of visibility and inclusivity in the stories we tell each other about ourselves. It is therefore also about power and local access to the means of representation in an increasingly globalised world. This book uses one film, 'Broken English' (1996), as a case study to explore in depth 'where New Zealand is at' as a nation. This choice is based on the proposition that this feature film at the time presented a significant 'break' in New Zealand cinema: where feature films before 'imagined' New Zealand overwhelmingly in either monocultural or bicultural terms, this film specifically and deliberately provided a multicultural perspective. By analysing this particular film on different levels and from many different angles, this book works through issues of national identity, by using concepts like ethnicity, race and diaspora. Through interviews with key people and a series of focus groups, the book explores where policy makers, film makers and viewers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds situate themselves and others within contemporary Aotearoa/ New Zealand.