The Faces of Multiculturalism in Contemporary Australian Cinema: Taming Otherness in Michael James Rowland’s “Lucky Miles”
Abstract
The author describes how contemporary Australian cinema at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries narrates the problem of multiculturalism and emigration. She divides selected films dealing with the issue into three categories: socially engaged films, comedies and films about children of emigrants (i.e. coming of age movies). She pays special attention to the first Australian film dealing with the problem of illegal refugees (the so-called boat people) - Lucky Miles by Michael James Rowland, and presents it as an example of one of the ways movies tame ethnic and cultural otherness. The context for the analysis of the Antipodes film comprises of the social and political events described in the introduction to the paper, for example the case of the ship Tampa in 2001, or the political success of the One Nation Party lead by Pauline Hanson in 1997. The text also shows Australia’s path to politics of multiculturalism officially accepted in 1973. The author aims to show how cinema reflects social anxieties and tensions that emerged during these events.
Keywords:
Australian cinema, Michael James Rowland, multiculturalismReferences
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Authors
Martyna Olszowskakwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
Autorka rozprawy doktorskiej (obronionej w Instytucie Sztuk Audiowizualnych UJ w 2012 r.) poświęconej kinematografii Australii w czasie rządów Partii Liberalnej i premiera Johna Howarda w latach 1996-2007. W 2010 r. Honorary Visiting Research Fellow na Uniwersytecie La Trobe w Melbourne. Publikowała w tomach zbiorowych, m.in. w Directory of World Cinema. Australia and New Zealand (2010), Nie tylko Bollywood (2009), Kino polskie jako kino narodowe (2010).
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Copyright (c) 2012 Martyna Olszowska
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