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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Film Imag(in)ed Diversity in a Small Nation: Constructing Ethnic Minorities in Dutch Cinema by Arne Saeys Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2018 ii UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Film Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ABSTRACT Imag(in)ed Diversity in a Small Nation: Constructing Ethnic Minorities in Dutch Cinema Arne Saeys This thesis investigates how non-Western ethnic minorities have been represented in Dutch cinema mainly during the last two decades. While it has been argued that national cinema contributes to the imagination of a cohesive national identity, migration and the resulting ethnic diversity in contemporary societies urges us to rethink the role of cinema in the construction of national identities. Whereas migration and minorities are often seen as a threat to the unity of a bounded and homogeneous nation, I argue that national cinemas can contribute to the imagination of a culturally diverse society. In debates about national cinemas, small nations like the Netherlands have largely been neglected. My original contribution to the field is the argument that even the cinema of a small nation like the Netherlands can represent cultural diversity. Not only because of its small size but also because it is one of the first European countries that developed multicultural policies, the Netherlands forms an interesting case to study the representation of ethnic minorities, particularly in times of reviving nationalism. A crucial research question is whether this increased attention to cultural diversity debunks or confirms prevailing stereotypes about the ethnic Other(s). Ethnic minorities are not just a demographic given but also a construct of government policies. For this reason, I examine how Dutch media and integration policies have influenced the representation of ethnic minorities in television and cinema. In order to analyse how diversity is imagined in the Netherlands, I focus on the cinematic representation of the largest minority groups as identified by the Dutch ethnic minorities policies: the Moroccans, the Turks, the Surinamese and the Antilleans. Besides policy efforts to represent ethnic minorities in the media, I claim that the representation of ethnic minorities in Dutch cinema is also a market-driven phenomenon. Even if the Dutch film industry engaged in the production of films targeting ethnic minority audiences, I argue that directors with an ethnic minority background can introduce a more personal perspective on ethnic minorities in the Netherlands. Finally, through historical dramas about (post)colonial migrants I will demonstrate how Dutch filmmakers reimagine the colonial past of the nation. Highlighting the increased attention paid to ethnic minorities in Dutch cinema, I conclude that even in a small nation like the Netherlands the cinematic imagination is not limited to a homogeneous and bounded nation but can also produce a multicultural and transnational world cinema. iii Notes All translations from Dutch are mine if not otherwise stated. For reasons of consistency and clarity, the first time I refer to films is by their original title, followed by their English language title. On subsequent references I use the English title. iv Contents ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... vii Declaration Of Authorship ..................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. xi 1. Imag(in)ed Diversity in a Small Nation .............................................................................. 1 1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. Migration and Cultural Diversity ................................................................................................. 3 1.3. Diversity and the Media .................................................................................................................. 5 1.4. Diversity in European Cinema ...................................................................................................... 7 1.5. From Colonial Exoticism to Accented Cinema ...................................................................... 10 1.6. Exilic, Diasporic and Transnational Cinema ......................................................................... 15 1.7. Constructing Ethnic Minorities .................................................................................................. 18 1.8. Ethnic Minorities in the Cinema of a Small Nation .............................................................. 20 1.9. Methodology and Scope ................................................................................................................ 24 2. Dutch Media Policies Regarding Ethnic Minorities ........................................................ 29 2.1. A Brief History of Migration to the Netherlands .................................................................. 30 2.2. From Ethnic Minorities Policies to Assimilationism .......................................................... 34 2.3. Television Programmes for Ethnic Minorities ..................................................................... 36 2.4. Cultural Diversity on Mainstream Television ....................................................................... 40 2.5. The Whiteness of Dutch National Cinema .............................................................................. 44 2.6. Dutch Documentaries Beyond the Netherlands ................................................................... 46 2.7. Dutch Fiction Films Beyond the Netherlands ........................................................................ 48 2.8. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 50 3. ‘Mocro Movies’: From Cinema of Duty to Box-Office Hits ........................................... 53 3.1. A Cinema of Duty: Documentaries on Moroccans ................................................................ 56 3.2. From a White Dutch Cinema to the Rise of ‘Mocro Movies’ .............................................. 61 3.3. Moroccans in Dutch Fiction Films: From Victims to Criminals ....................................... 63 3.4. Shouf Shouf Habibi! (2004) and the Rise of Multicultural Comedies ............................ 70 3.5. Post-Multicultural Dramas .......................................................................................................... 80 3.6. Transnational Road Movies ........................................................................................................ 82 3.7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 86 4. Turks in Dutch Cinema: De kinderen van mijn vader (2005) and Gangsterboys (2010) .................................................................................................................................................. 89 4.1. The Ethnographic GaZe of Dutch Documentary Filmmakers ........................................... 91 4.2. Meral Uslu: Migrant by Fate, Filmmaker By Choice ............................................................ 96 4.2.1. Biographical Background and Works ............................................................................................... 96 4.2.2. Shooting the Diasporic Family in De kinderen van mijn vader (2005) ............................ 101 4.3. The Intersectional View of Female Dutch-Turkish Filmmakers .................................. 109 4.4. Turks in Dutch Fiction: From Social Dramas to Crime Comedies ................................ 113 4.4.1. Fear of the Other in Dutch Crime Films ........................................................................................ 117 4.4.2. Male Migrant Youngsters in Gangsterboys (2010) ................................................................... 119 4.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................