The Diasporic Family in Cinema

Migrant and diasporic cinema challenges national and ethnocentric myths and is centrally concerned with the politics of identity and belonging. The family as a prime site of socialisation and identity formation, therefore, plays a particularly prominent role. It functions as a microcosm of the ambivalent relationship between the homeland and the host country and its frequently conflicting traditions and value systems. Moreover, the preponderance of family narratives in diasporic cinema can be attributed to a semi-autobiographical impulse: many films about diasporic family life are based on and authenticated by the filmmakers' biographies or that of their parents. However, diasporic and ethnic minority families and their cross-cultural encounters with dominant social groups are also represented in films made by non-diasporic filmmakers. This is not surprising since transnational mobility and migration are amongst the most powerful forces of social transformation in the contemporary world. They are at the centre of public and political debates that testify to the anxieties with which mass migration and resettlement are charged, both for migrating and receiving communities. Conversely, media discourses suggest that diasporic subject positions are gradually becoming an asset rather than a liability, as state leaders and transnational elites publicly promote their ethnic roots/routes or dual heritage.

This research project takes a theme-centred, transnationally comparative approach to the diasporic family. It focuses on the four most established diasporic film cultures in Europe (Black British, Asian British, Maghrebi French and Turkish German cinema) which simultaneously gained critical mass in the 1980s. Hollywood and transnational Bollywood films in which the diasporic family takes centre stage provide further comparative contexts and reference points. The research proposes that sustained narrative treatments of family life enhance the cross-over and mainstream appeal of diasporic cinema. Kinship is an issue of universal significance, but the structures - nuclear, multi-generational, dual heritage, etc. - and value systems that underpin family life are always culturally specific. Therefore, the construction of the diasporic family on film is quintessentially concerned with the question: How different is the diasporic family? Displacement and dispersal, the rupture of cultural and familial ties, language barriers and the experience of racism and social marginalisation put the diasporic family under pressure. These factors are shown to lead to a destabilisation of family structures and identities, resulting in dysfunctional domesticity. But on the other hand, diasporic cinema also foregrounds the benefits of non-Western family values and kinship networks and thereby critiques the Western cult of the individual and the alleged superiority of the white bourgeois family.

Going beyond a thematic exploration of dominant themes, such as the experience of coming-of-age, memories of migration, family secrets, weddings and arranged marriages, this study also attends to the films' aesthetic practices. It suggests that diasporic family narratives are characterised by a distinctive aesthetic approach that is borne out of the multiple, ambivalent affiliations of its creators. The project examines how diasporic filmmakers modify and revitalise the conventions of genres commonly associated with the representation of the family by mixing them with generic templates and aesthetic traditions derived from their cultures of origin, thereby bringing about the World Cinema turn in European and other Western cinemas. Finally, through promoting a dialogue with filmmakers and other media professionals and through tracing and reconstructing the films' media reception, the project seeks understand how narrative treatments of the diasporic family on screen intervene in topical debates about the crisis of the family and cultural diversity.

The research project is based on the premise that migrant and diasporic film - alongside music - must be seen as the most significant and popular and artistic practice with regard to the (self-)representation of migrant and diasporic groups. Many contemporary diasporic films have enjoyed considerable mainstream appeal. This is particularly true of films about the diasporic family. Moroever, the issues addressed in the research, such as the opportunities and conflicts arising from migration and cultural diversity and the transformation of family structures and values, are both topical and controversial. Against this background, the project on The Diasporic Family in Cinema promises to elicit widespread interest far beyond the academic sphere.

Given the project's focus on film, the research will be of particular relevance to filmmakers addressing cultural diversity issues, policy-makers in the media industry, film and television producers, film funding bodies, film distributors and organisers of film festivals. By creating opportunities for the exchange of ideas and knowledge transfer and by deploying a broad-based dissemination strategy (including a website, podcasts, an international Symposium, public film screenings, academic papers and publications) the project will increase the visibility and cultural prestige of migrant and diasporic cinema. This in turn will benefit stakeholders operating in this sector and will, in the long term, further enhance the opportunities for ethnic-led filmmaking.

I have evidence of this kind of impact from the AHRC-funded Migrant and Diasporic Cinema Network, which I led between 2006 and 2008. Filmmaker and Network participant Gareth Jones, launched the BABYLON film development initiative in conjunction with the Network. BABYLON promotes ethnic minority filmmaking in Europe. To date it has supported the development of 38 screenplays, two films are in pre-production, one film was completed and shown at the Locarno festival. My collaboration with Gareth Jones and BABYLON is ongoing and is anticipated to underpin the impact of the Diasporic Family project.

The project's dissemination strategy targets complementary constituencies and aims to facilitate cross-fertilisation and productive synergies. The interactive website ensures that the research is accessible to the interested public and relevant stakeholders. It provides a platform for the virtual exchange of knowledge and expertise between these various constituencies. The website will be maintained for at least five years, since impact rarely occurs immediately. For example, the Migrant and Diasporic Cinema website (www.migrantcinema.net) resulted in me and another Networker being invited 22 months after the funding period to a high-profile international symposium organised by the WDR (West German Broadcasting Corporation) in Cologne. The event was initiated by the WDR's Commissioner for Integration and Cultural Diversity and explored the concept of Heimat in the age of transnational migration. It brought together filmmakers, journalists, policy advisers and international film scholars, received good press coverage and attracted more than 400 people. I also contributed to a television documentary on the subject, which was broadcast by the WDR in October 2009.

I am confident that I can create a similar impact for the proposed project. The London-based Symposium will showcase the research and raise my profile as an expert on diasporic film cultures. This puts me in a good position to act as consultant to policy-makers, film funding councils, film festival organisers and other stakeholders. Finally, the public film screenings and Q&A sessions at the Ciné Lumière in London target the interested public, alongside scholars and industry stakeholders, and aim to positively change perceptions and misconceptions of diasporic communities and