Historical index of Asian Australian cinema: data

Researchers from the University of Melbourne (Audrey Yue) and Monash University (Belinda Smaill and Olivia Khoo) are collaborating to develop a history of Asian Australian relationships in cinema. Since 2009, data has been compiled on films that fit within one or more of four ‘contexts’: Australians working in Asia, Asians working in Australia, works by Asian Australian directors, and works featuring Asian Australians. Research assistants (Ramon Lobato and Janice Loreck) have been compiling the index/filmography from public data sources including the National Film and Sound Archive and published works. This existing data is being augmented with contextual codes and analysis by the project team. By default, the index spreadsheet is ordered chronologically, but it can also be sorted by other attributes including director, production company, genre and country. Films covered include feature films, short films, and documentaries from approx. 1913 to the present day. Descriptions of the films and some identifiers (e.g. National Film and Sound Archive call numbers) have been included where possible. The index will be largely complete by the end of the project (end of 2011) but may continue to be supplemented in future. The researchers are considering a range of online publication possibilities for the index.