Pioneering Transnational Cinema and Cultural Identity: A Conversation with Ryan Latchmanshingh

The emergence of transnational cinema as a dynamic force in modern filmmaking has resulted in the promotion of cultural interaction and the formation of global narrative trends. This systematic study, which is driven by the PRISMA framework, is a synthesis of contemporary scholarly viewpoints on how transnational cinema acts as a cultural bridge. The purpose of this study is to synthesize the findings from a carefully selected sample of fifteen research papers, with special emphasis placed on stringent inclusion–exclusion criteria and the utilization of the PRISMA methodology. The sample of articles utilized in this study spans the years 2006 to 2023. The review sheds light on a variety of influences that have influenced the shifting viewpoints on transnational cinema. The practice of transnational cinema encourages cultural hybridity while simultaneously challenging established national identities. One of the most important factors in growing the worldwide effect of films is the role that co-productions and digital platforms play. According to the findings, transnational cinema is facilitating a transformation in the manner in which cultural identities are shown and understood. The blending of different film techniques and the telling of stories from other cultures contributes to the enrichment of global cinema and defies the rigid definitions of national industry. Several topics, including hybridity, diasporic identity, cross-border cooperation, and worldwide audience reception, are investigated in this research. Through an examination of several studies, this study sheds light on the primary tendencies and debates that are characteristic of the modern international cinematic discourse. In further investigations, the phenomena of the digital revolution and the impact it has had on the process of reframing global narratives need to be the primary focus.

Theorizing Ambivalence in Ang Lee's Transnational Cinema takes a unique approach to the study of transnational cinema by examining the representation of Chinese identity in Ang Lee's films and the public discourse from various audience communities. This book focuses on his transnational films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Lust, Caution (2007) as two case studies. Providing a systematic analysis of audience discourse from Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora, this study challenges ideological constructions of racial and ethnic identity, such as Chineseness, that are objectively defined within a static nation-state mechanism in an era of globalization. Through the study of the representation of Chineseness, this book expands the theoretical discussions on the politics of national identity and cultural syncretism represented in transnational cinema and further provides a good example of the familiar cycle of ambivalent emotion toward the West in the aftermath of postcolonialism. China and Taiwan's long history of engaging in a subordinate relationship with the West enhances the resurgence of ambivalence. The representations become a significant and predominant way to mediate one's bodily experiences, to connect and collaborate with one another, and to form and inform one's cultural identity. The analyses of these films and the audience discourse are essential to an understanding of the ways in which new media technologies impact and alter the human interactions between people from various cultural, social, and political contexts.

This paper traces artistic and ideological discrepancies between the young generation of Hong Kong filmmakers and their predecessors – the established generation who contributed to the glory days of Hong Kong cinema during its economic boom. By tracing studies of national cinema and transnational cinema in the last three decades, the author argues that current Hong Kong cinema has split into two: a transnational cinema represented by the established generation of filmmakers; and a national cinema that is driven by the emerging generation who struggles for better preservation of Hong Kong local culture and their own cultural identities. To conduct the research, 47 people were interviewed including13 established filmmakers, 16 young filmmakers and18 film students from 3 universities in Hong Kong. The three groups of respondents generally represent three perspectives: that of the established film practitioners, who have a vested interest in the current co-production era; that of the emerging young film practitioners, who above all crave a flourishing local film market and whose productions exhibit stronger Hong Kong cultural identities; lastly, that of the, who were predominantly born in the 1990s and have the most extreme views against mainland China and whose filmmaking ideologies and practices foreshadow the future of the industry.

This article focuses on the work of four Algerian émigré directors working in France since the early 1980s: Merzak Allouache, Abdelkrim Bahloul, Okacha Touita and Mahmoud Zemmouri, in order to address questions of transnational cinema(s) in a specifically postcolonial context. It considers how selected films by these directors borrow from the traditions of French (European) cinema and combine them with the specificities (and difference) of the Algerian diaspora in France. In the process, it explores how such transnational representations bring into question the validity of both national cinema and cultural identity as rigid and fixed concepts in contemporary (postcolonial) France.

The notion of National Cinema has been under fierce attack. It was once a dominant paradigm during the heyday of the nation-state but now is a marker of obsolescence. In this essay I first critique those who forsake the concept of National Cinema by examining the following questions: Is National Cinema a conceptual and institutional by-product of Hollywood domination? How is National Cinema correlated with cultural identity and uniqueness? Should National Cinema be supplanted by a fashionable neologism, transnational cinema? I argue that National Cinema has lasting significance as a concept and needs to be retooled as an analytic paradigm for cultural self-making/becoming, which involves institutional, economic, and discursive negotiations/struggles to determine what has to be done to afford cinematic cultures critical to socio-cultural life in a national society.

This book is an interdisciplinary study of the commerce–art–politics nexus of Hong Kong cinema from 2000 to 2020, investigating the current nascent generation of film workers who joined the industry as it gradually entered an era marked by the domination of Hong Kong/mainland co-productions. Fangyu Chen explores the filmmaking ideologies of the emerging filmmakers from both within and beyond their film texts and uncovers the artistic and ideological discrepancies between this generation and their predecessors—the established generation who contributed to the glory days of Hong Kong cinema during its economic boom. By tracing the studies of national cinema and transnational cinema, Chen debunks the national/transnational antagonism with the case of post-2000 Hong Kong cinema and argues that it has split into two: a transnational cinema represented by the established generation of filmmakers and a national cinema that is driven by the nascent generation who are struggling for better preservation of Hong Kong local culture and their own cultural identities. Employing a Hong Kong/mainland film dynamics perspective, this study addresses a gap in the academic study of Hong Kong cinema, drawing attention to the material conditions and artistic visions of the craft labour in the industry. Scholars of communication, film studies, and labor economics will find this book of particular interest.

This chapter discusses Indian film criticism, with a particular focus on traditional modes of studying Indian cinema. It first traces the history of the development of the Bombay film industry from the 1910s to the 2000s, arguing that the 1960s and 1980s are decades from which we can best study Indian cinema's most popular form of filmmaking: the masala genre. It then considers traditional approaches to Indian film and some popular themes in Indian film studies, including nationalism, diaspora, postcolonialism and cultural identity. It also examines introductory guidebooks and other literary sources that it accuses of having misled readers towards restrictive (if not outmoded and derogatory) definitions of the cinema they seek to understand. The chapter concludes with an overview of categories used to explore Bollywood's current manifestation, namely, third cinema, world cinema, Asian cinema, global contemporary Indian cinema and transnational cinema.

This book is an interdisciplinary study of the commerce–art–politics nexus of Hong Kong cinema from 2000 to 2020, investigating the current nascent generation of film workers who joined the industry as it gradually entered an era marked by the domination of Hong Kong/mainland co-productions. Fangyu Chen explores the filmmaking ideologies of the emerging filmmakers from both within and beyond their film texts and uncovers the artistic and ideological discrepancies between this generation and their predecessors—the established generation who contributed to the glory days of Hong Kong cinema during its economic boom. By tracing the studies of national cinema and transnational cinema, Chen debunks the national/transnational antagonism with the case of post-2000 Hong Kong cinema and argues that it has split into two: a transnational cinema represented by the established generation of filmmakers and a national cinema that is driven by the nascent generation who are struggling for better preservation of Hong Kong local culture and their own cultural identities. Employing a Hong Kong/mainland film dynamics perspective, this study addresses a gap in the academic study of Hong Kong cinema, drawing attention to the material conditions and artistic visions of the craft labour in the industry. Scholars of communication, film studies, and labor economics will find this book of particular interest.

In an era where globalization shapes cross-cultural interactions, transnational cinema serves as a vital platform for promoting international cooperation and cultural exchange. This study delves into the representation of Eastern cultures in transnational films, using Memoirs of a Geisha (2004) and other Western films centered around Eastern themes as primary case studies. The research examines the effectiveness of these films in disseminating Eastern cultural values through the analysis of cultural symbols, the casting of transnational actors, and the historical narratives constructed by Western filmmakers. Findings indicate that, despite the intent to foster cultural understanding, transnational cinema often falls short due to recurring misrepresentations and biases. Cultural symbols are frequently oversimplified, reducing their significance and failing to convey the depth of the traditions they represent. Misinterpretations in historical portrayal and the selection of actorsoften with ambiguous cultural backgroundsfurther complicate the transmission of authentic Eastern cultural perspectives. Additionally, language barriers add another layer of miscommunication, reinforcing stereotypes rather than dismantling them. These challenges underscore the limitations of transnational cinema in accurately representing Eastern cultures, suggesting that without a more nuanced, respectful approach to cultural portrayal, the medium's potential to bridge cultural gaps remains constrained. This research calls for an enhanced commitment to cultural accuracy and sensitivity in global filmmaking to better support genuine intercultural dialogue and understanding.

This paper will show how a dynamic, spatially embedded cultural identity that transcends racial, ethnic, class and national 1 boundaries is constructed in both Taiwanese film Cape No. 7 and Singaporean film That Girl in Pinafore through the use of (1) a unique blend of languages and accents, (2) music, and (3) sub-urban and rural heartlands as backdrops. This is significant because both films, although known for their localism in both content and production, can thus be interpreted as engaging with the transnational cinema discourse in articulating a transnational localism.

As research on transnational cinema makes clear, films do not easily coincide with national borders, but ‘link people or institutions across nations’. While Britain’s strongest transnational links are with the US, it has also developed production partnerships with its European neighbours. Each year, British film companies lead-produce about 15 co-productions with other Europeans. But why do British filmmakers work with European partners, and what are the implications of these partnerships for their film’s cultural identity and its box office performance? Through analysing a sample of recent UK/European co-productions, this article suggests most British film companies work with other Europeans for financial rather than creative reasons. At the same time, UK/European co-productions are more ‘culturally European’ than other categories of British film (i.e. domestic and inward investment features). While this does not necessarily boost their popularity with European audiences, the bigger budgets and better distribution links which co-production enables means UK/European co-productions on average perform better in Europe than UK domestic features. Co-production is therefore a useful strategy for getting British films made and circulated within Europe, though this strategy is also thwarted by a UK film policy orientated towards attracting higher value US inward investment features.

Clara Law (Law Cheuk-yiu) has amassed a substantial body of work as a writer and/or director, with upward of twenty feature credits between 1985 and 2015. Starting with her early Hong Kong–based films addressing sexuality, The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus (Pan Jin Lian zhi qian shi jin sheng, 1989) and Temptation of a Monk (1993), Law embraced transnational cinema through invitations and awards from major international film festivals, as well as participating in Erotique (1994), a compilation film with multinational contributors. Her work insistently interrogates the interconnections among concepts of Asia, transcultural migrations, and filmmaking practice through narratives that exceed “Chineseness” both in terms of culture and ethnicity, and in terms of expectations for Asian women directors. Reconfigurations of sexual and cultural identity, and geopolitical correspondences and differentiations, consistently recur in her filmic narratives, as characters encounter new personal, cultural, racial and ethnic formations in the wake of geopolitical transmigrations.

This article examines Sandra Kogut’s The Hungarian Passport (2001) in the light of recent theoretical debates on diasporic and postcolonial filmmaking. It focuses on how Kogut’s displacement—both as the granddaughter of Jewish refugees and a foreigner in France—permeates the structure of the documentary in terms of narrative, visual style, subject matter and theme. In the process, the article addresses questions of transnational cinema in a postcolonial and diasporic context by exploring how the film’s transnational representations interrogate the validity of both national cinema and cultural identity as fixed concepts in contemporary Europe.

The film The Castle (1997) is part of Australia’s cultural and national identity. Australians love how much we love the film, and we see ourselves in the working-class Kerrigan family at the centre of the story. Yet one of the co-writers of the film, Santo Cilauro, suggests that The Castle is as much an Italian film as an Australian one. The interview with Cilauro explores the transnational nature of this ‘national’ film and offers a case study of a popular film to inform critical approaches to transnational cinema.

Ethnic minority filmmakers who reside in the West often bear the burden of authenticity when it comes to the representa-tion of their cultures of origination. Such a burden is often tied up with the seemingly simplistic question about a particular film’s national origin, a rhetorical question that is perhaps best answered by applying the film critic Philip Kemp’s duck test in relation to how one measures a British film’s Britishness: ‘If it looks, walks, and quacks like a British film, then that’s prob-ably what it is’ (1999, p. 64). The discourse of national and world cinemas sits at odds with the rather more complex real-ities of film production and distribution that more often than not involve co-productions, international sources of funding, various locations, a motley cast and crew of different nation-alities, and stories that may fall outside the remit of particular national and cultural discourses. The hyphenated identities of many filmmakers with specific cultural backgrounds that involve migration, diaspora, and/or exile often find that audi-ences for their works expect them to speak for, or represent, their cultures of origination; or for their works to reflect upon their hyphenated cultural identities. As a critique of US or Eurocentric discourses, a hyphenated identity can also be seen, Hamid Naficy observes, as identity cinema’s ‘marker of resis-tance to the homogenizing and hegemonizing power of the American melting pot ideology’ (2001, p. 15).KeywordsSouth Asian CommunityIdentity CinemaEthnic ViolenceNetwork CultureReligious PietyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.