title: The Asian Diaspora in New Zealand Film: Conceptualising Asian New Zealand Cinema

authors: Zalipour, Arezou

abstract: New Zealand is officially described, and effectively operated, as a bicultural nation guided by the Treaty of Waitangi. Nonetheless, this society of four and a half million people also appears markedly multicultural and multi-ethnic at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The shifting demographics of New Zealand and its ethnically diverse composition have, in the last decade, rekindled debates about the role of creative and cultural production in the representation and construction of new narratives for the nation. New Zealand scholars have recognised the potential of film (screen media) for creating ‘the imagined community’ by referring to the scarce representations of ethnic communities in New Zealand, and also to the stereotyped images in other media forms that reinforce the enduring discourses of exclusion in representing the nation. Nevertheless, there have been healthy signs in recent years of media productions being made by New Zealanders of ethnic descent that attempt to represent a wider range of social and cultural experiences amongst the contemporary population. As more people from different backgrounds commit to a future in New Zealand, some feel the need to reflect publically on their experience of migration and diaspora. The desire to shape their related experiences and perspectives into various forms of media and visual culture has fed some notable works in contemporary New Zealand. Consequently, emerging Asian diasporic talents, and the voices of filmmakers who have presented alternative world views, identities and cultures in the dominantly Europeanised New Zealand cultural and social arenas, have become evident. 

This research project is based on the premise that there has been an increasing visibility of filmmakers with a migratory background in New Zealand film and cinema, and also a growing sense of cultural diversity in New Zealand society. The thesis speaks of an ‘Asian New Zealand’ arena which is a relatively recent possibility, and fundamentally engages with exploring and conceptualising a group of diasporic films and filmmakers as aspects of ‘Asian New Zealand cinema’, which in a broader sense reflects manifold social realities within contemporary New Zealand as whole. This is the first study of (Asian) diasporic films in New Zealand and, therefore, creates a foundation for investigation of this type of film and filmmaking within New Zealand cinema scholarship. By foregrounding an emerging group of films and filmmakers that have delineated important aesthetic, cultural, social, gendered and political complexities in the New Zealand social and cinematic imaginary over the last decade, the thesis advances New Zealand film scholarship by highlighting the roles diasporic films can play, as well as perspectives they can provide in responding to the increasing reality of cultural diversity in New Zealand at a social level, particularly through the lens of Diaspora Studies.

This research utilises theories and concepts of diaspora, which over the last two decades have served many functions within film and cinema scholarship; in particular, they have spoken to the ways in which films made and written by directors and writers with a migratory background can be understood, interpreted and studied. My research innovates in the area of diasporic film studies specifically by paying attention to the diasporic film viewer or audience. Previous diasporic cinema studies have largely assigned a primary role to the diasporic author and the diasporic text as a series of wide-ranging relationships in which the filmmaker’s migratory background and deterritorialised locations affect various aspects of the cinematic productions and the text. Given my interest in foregrounding the concept of Asian New Zealand film and its power to offer a platform for multilayered dialogues between diasporic subjects and the New Zealand host society, I was drawn to exploring what kinds of relationships exist between the diasporic audience/viewer and the diasporic film. In this way, my project enriches these conversations by bringing the notion of diasporic audiences as significant meaning-making bodies to diasporic cinema studies. 

This thesis follows the ‘PhD with Publication’ scheme and therefore needs to be read and understood in this manner. It presents a collection of five scholarly articles and one book chapter which are interconnected and linked to the research’s central goal: conceptualising Asian New Zealand cinema.

text: The Asian Diaspora in New Zealand Film: Conceptualising Asian New Zealand Cinema New Zealand is officially described, and effectively operated, as a bicultural nation guided by the Treaty of Waitangi. Nonetheless, this society of four and a half million people also appears markedly multicultural and multi-ethnic at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The shifting demographics of New Zealand and its ethnically diverse composition have, in the last decade, rekindled debates about the role of creative and cultural production in the representation and construction of new narratives for the nation. New Zealand scholars have recognised the potential of film (screen media) for creating ‘the imagined community’ by referring to the scarce representations of ethnic communities in New Zealand, and also to the stereotyped images in other media forms that reinforce the enduring discourses of exclusion in representing the nation. Nevertheless, there have been healthy signs in recent years of media productions being made by New Zealanders of ethnic descent that attempt to represent a wider range of social and cultural experiences amongst the contemporary population. As more people from different backgrounds commit to a future in New Zealand, some feel the need to reflect publically on their experience of migration and diaspora. The desire to shape their related experiences and perspectives into various forms of media and visual culture has fed some notable works in contemporary New Zealand. Consequently, emerging Asian diasporic talents, and the voices of filmmakers who have presented alternative world views, identities and cultures in the dominantly Europeanised New Zealand cultural and social arenas, have become evident. 

This research project is based on the premise that there has been an increasing visibility of filmmakers with a migratory background in New Zealand film and cinema, and also a growing sense of cultural diversity in New Zealand society. The thesis speaks of an ‘Asian New Zealand’ arena which is a relatively recent possibility, and fundamentally engages with exploring and conceptualising a group of diasporic films and filmmakers as aspects of ‘Asian New Zealand cinema’, which in a broader sense reflects manifold social realities within contemporary New Zealand as whole. This is the first study of (Asian) diasporic films in New Zealand and, therefore, creates a foundation for investigation of this type of film and filmmaking within New Zealand cinema scholarship. By foregrounding an emerging group of films and filmmakers that have delineated important aesthetic, cultural, social, gendered and political complexities in the New Zealand social and cinematic imaginary over the last decade, the thesis advances New Zealand film scholarship by highlighting the roles diasporic films can play, as well as perspectives they can provide in responding to the increasing reality of cultural diversity in New Zealand at a social level, particularly through the lens of Diaspora Studies.

This research utilises theories and concepts of diaspora, which over the last two decades have served many functions within film and cinema scholarship; in particular, they have spoken to the ways in which films made and written by directors and writers with a migratory background can be understood, interpreted and studied. My research innovates in the area of diasporic film studies specifically by paying attention to the diasporic film viewer or audience. Previous diasporic cinema studies have largely assigned a primary role to the diasporic author and the diasporic text as a series of wide-ranging relationships in which the filmmaker’s migratory background and deterritorialised locations affect various aspects of the cinematic productions and the text. Given my interest in foregrounding the concept of Asian New Zealand film and its power to offer a platform for multilayered dialogues between diasporic subjects and the New Zealand host society, I was drawn to exploring what kinds of relationships exist between the diasporic audience/viewer and the diasporic film. In this way, my project enriches these conversations by bringing the notion of diasporic audiences as significant meaning-making bodies to diasporic cinema studies. 

This thesis follows the ‘PhD with Publication’ scheme and therefore needs to be read and understood in this manner. It presents a collection of five scholarly articles and one book chapter which are interconnected and linked to the research’s central goal: conceptualising Asian New Zealand cinema.

year: 2015

title: Understanding informal learning among international students through their brokering practices

authors: Lee, Sherrie

subjects: international students

abstract: While informal learning is recognised as an important part of academic learning, the significance of learning outside the prescribed curriculum has been largely overlooked in the literature on international students. The purpose of this study is to better understand the informal academic learning practices of international EAL students through the concept of brokering. In this study, brokering practices are defined as academic help-seeking social interactions outside the formal curriculum. Examples of brokering interactions include translating academic-related information or making explicit the requirements of an academic task. This paper is based on an ethnographic study involving ten international EAL students at a New Zealand university. Students were interviewed regularly over the period of one academic semester. Based on initial findings, the article details the characteristics of peer and non-peer brokers. Brokers were chosen because they had prior experience or recognised expertise in particular academic areas. At times, they were also chosen because they could communicate in the students’ native language. It is hoped that understanding the different types of brokers will allow institutions to develop more effective strategies in supporting international students’ academic needs.

text: Understanding informal learning among international students through their brokering practices While informal learning is recognised as an important part of academic learning, the significance of learning outside the prescribed curriculum has been largely overlooked in the literature on international students. The purpose of this study is to better understand the informal academic learning practices of international EAL students through the concept of brokering. In this study, brokering practices are defined as academic help-seeking social interactions outside the formal curriculum. Examples of brokering interactions include translating academic-related information or making explicit the requirements of an academic task. This paper is based on an ethnographic study involving ten international EAL students at a New Zealand university. Students were interviewed regularly over the period of one academic semester. Based on initial findings, the article details the characteristics of peer and non-peer brokers. Brokers were chosen because they had prior experience or recognised expertise in particular academic areas. At times, they were also chosen because they could communicate in the students’ native language. It is hoped that understanding the different types of brokers will allow institutions to develop more effective strategies in supporting international students’ academic needs.

year: 2017

title: Te Karauna Hou: the senior Ngati Rahiri rangatira

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: Te Karauna Hou, the principal Ngati Rahiri rangatira living at Te Aroha in 1880, had a distinguished whakapapa linking him to several hapu. Before settling permanently at Te Aroha in the 1870s he lived in several places, especially at Kaitawa, on the southern outskirts of Thames. One of the principal rangatira in Hauraki, he was loyal to the Crown during the Waikato War, and later assisted Pakeha settlement. To emphasize his mana and that of his hapu, he held big festivities at Kaitawa and at Omahu pa at Te Aroha. 
In 1871, when Ngati Haua won a (temporary) victory in the land court over the ownership of the Aroha Block, Karauna took control of it on behalf of the Marutuahu confederation, and subsequently kept Ngati Haua at bay. For a time he opposed road-making on this block, but later agreed to it, for financial reasons. Like all rangatira, he sought to maximize his ownership of as many blocks of land as possible, sometimes having his lies exposed through his contradicting his earlier evidence. He also denied receiving money for land when his denials were easily disproved. Despite leasing and selling land, selling timber and gum, and opening his land to miners, he often struggled financially.  
Karauna claimed to have found gold in Hauraki in 1852, and was willing to open his land at Thames to miners, but did not invest in any claims before the Te Aroha rush, when he attempted to extract a bonus of £1,000 from the government for opening the field. After his death in 1885, Pakeha remembered with gratitude his friendly attitude to them, but they also remembered his drunkenness, which meant he lost the respect of both Maori and Pakeha in his latter years.

text: Te Karauna Hou: the senior Ngati Rahiri rangatira Te Karauna Hou, the principal Ngati Rahiri rangatira living at Te Aroha in 1880, had a distinguished whakapapa linking him to several hapu. Before settling permanently at Te Aroha in the 1870s he lived in several places, especially at Kaitawa, on the southern outskirts of Thames. One of the principal rangatira in Hauraki, he was loyal to the Crown during the Waikato War, and later assisted Pakeha settlement. To emphasize his mana and that of his hapu, he held big festivities at Kaitawa and at Omahu pa at Te Aroha. 
In 1871, when Ngati Haua won a (temporary) victory in the land court over the ownership of the Aroha Block, Karauna took control of it on behalf of the Marutuahu confederation, and subsequently kept Ngati Haua at bay. For a time he opposed road-making on this block, but later agreed to it, for financial reasons. Like all rangatira, he sought to maximize his ownership of as many blocks of land as possible, sometimes having his lies exposed through his contradicting his earlier evidence. He also denied receiving money for land when his denials were easily disproved. Despite leasing and selling land, selling timber and gum, and opening his land to miners, he often struggled financially.  
Karauna claimed to have found gold in Hauraki in 1852, and was willing to open his land at Thames to miners, but did not invest in any claims before the Te Aroha rush, when he attempted to extract a bonus of £1,000 from the government for opening the field. After his death in 1885, Pakeha remembered with gratitude his friendly attitude to them, but they also remembered his drunkenness, which meant he lost the respect of both Maori and Pakeha in his latter years.

year: 2016