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The introduction situates this study in the context of the two principal fields of enquiry with which it intersects, namely scholarship on the representation of the family in (predominantly Hollywood) cinema and the rapidly growing body of work on transnational cinema, more generally, and diasporic European cinema, in particular. The overarching argument of the book, which is outlined in the Introduction, is that the diasporic family on screen crystallises the emotionally ambivalent response to growing cultural diversity in Western societies. Constructed as Other on account of their ethnicity, language and religion, diasporic families are perceived as a threat to the social cohesion of Western host societies. At the same time, many diasporic family films reflect a nostalgic longing for the traditional family, imagined in terms of extended kinship ties and superior family values.

Song of the Exile was released in Hong Kong from 27 April 1990 to 16 May 1990, and grossed over HK$3,071,212 (MPIA 1990). Produced by Cos Group and distributed by Golden Harvest, the film consolidated the career of the director, Ann On-wah Hui, Hong Kong's “most influential director in the 80s” and “one of Asia's premium directors”. This book specifically analyzes her ninth film, Song of the Exile, undoubtedly one of her finest. This film is based on Hui's semi-autobiographical story about a daughter coming to terms with her mother's Japanese identity. It also approaches this film through several features of Hong Kong cinema as diasporic cinema. An overview of the chapters included in this book is given. It is hoped that this book can show how the border cinema of Song of the Exile, as a practice of representation and a representation of practice, can articulate an alternative Hong Kong modernity as a new form of public pedagogy central to the ethics of its re-turn.

The chapter on Kosovo examines the history and evolution of Kosovar cinema since 2008, the year of its independence. It focuses on genres and narratives that address Kosovo’s past and present ethnic and social conflicts, while stressing the importance of the public funding system through Kosova Cinematography Center and international co-productions. The chapter also explores national and international film distribution, with a focus on Kosovar film festivals as cultural platforms for raising awareness of political, educational, and social issues.

This chapter considers the theme of agency in French téléfilms featuring first-generation women that were broadcast between 1993 and 2012. These include Yamina Benguigui’s Aïcha series and films by Philippe Faucon, Rachid Bouchareb, and Malik Chibane. The chapter first outlines the specificity of French téléfilms and gives and overview of the representations of first-generation women on French television more broadly. Then, it considers the extent to which Maghrebi women appear to achieve agency in French téléfilms and identifies factors that constitute barriers to agency. When taken together, these films present a vision of agency that is to a very large extent equated with behaving in a ‘Westernized’ fashion, conforming to norms of individualism dominant in France, whereas an absence of agency is associated with the perpetuation of traditions associated with the country of origin that are portrayed as patriarchal and oppressive to women. The families of the first-generation women in these films play a prominent role in the respective narratives and impact the treatment of the question of agency, and the readings of these films are supported by Berghahn’s work on ‘diasporic families’ in contemporary European cinema.