HOMELANDS

DOCUMENTARY 1993

SYNOPSIS

A portrait of a marriage - a refugee family living in Melbourne torn between conflicting desires for identity and a sense of belonging. The film follows the personal drama in the life of the family over 18 months.

My DireCtORS NOTES

Homelands was a departure for me not only in terms of style but also in terms of content.

From the very first film I made Waterloo (1981), I wanted to reflect on the shifting social, political and cultural landscape in Australia. It was 1992, and I felt it was high time to explore issues around migration and ethnicity. My motivation was partly personal. Our family emigrated from Europe in 1956, and my father Jerzy Zubrzycki happened to be one of the chief architects of multiculturalism – at the academic and policy levels.

I observed that there was a noticeable absence of films made in in this country that explored stories of migration. Silver City was made in 1984, but there were no feature documentaries. I found that inexplicable, and I wanted to correct this imbalance.

Awards

Australian Film Critics Circle Prize for Best Documentary

The film premiered at both Sydney and Melbourne film festivals, and screened at international film festivals including Margaret Mead and Cinéma du réel.