Abstract:
As a diasporic Indian filmmaker in New Zealand my creative work wrestles with ideas of home, "multiculturalism" and immigrant identities. The New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand's main government funded agency for film funding is required to fund New Zealand films, often my films do not seamlessly articulate with ideas of New Zealandness. Using my films and television shows as examples, I challenge official ideas of "new zealandness" and stake my claim as a "local" filmmaker even when my projects may be set in India.