Defining “Accented Cinema” in Latin American Films about East-Asian Migrants

This paper examines the application of Hamid Naficy’s concept of “accented cinema” to films dealing with East-Asian migrants to Latin America. The presentation will discuss films produced by ethnic Asians, as well as those directed by non-ethnic Asians. The concept will serve to differentiate between films where the migratory experience serves as the theme used by non-migrant filmmakers to enhance the host society’s understanding of its own reality, and films produced by filmmakers and institutions with migratory experiences where migration is more than just a theme. To gain a well-rounded understanding of the possible ideological underpinnings of different representations of the migratory phenomena in these different films, this study will employ textual interpretation, as well as analyses of production design and audience responses.