Cinéma Vérité? Australian Film, Young Lebanese-Australian Men, and the Performance of Identity

Abstract

Australian popular media has stereotyped young Lebanese-Australian men as ‘violent misogynists’; subsequently, young Lebanese-Australian men have been criminalised as the deviant ethnic ‘other’. Recently, however, a number of films have emerged that have attempted to challenge these stereotypes through a variety of mechanisms. This research aims to examine the role of stereotypes in identity-formation among young Lebanese-Australian men, and to explore their representation through characters and issues depicted within recent films. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with men who had been involved in filmmaking; these interviews explored the tensions inherent within the intersection of masculinity and ethnicity in the negotiation of everyday life, and the situational mobilisation of popular stereotypes in the performance of identity. While these results may be particular to the target group, this project illuminates the complexity of identity and the potential for empowerment and active resistance against racism and marginalisation.