Some exciting news. In being succesful with my proposal to become a member of the UK-China Film Collab I have been given the title Historian & Documentary Producer.
Here I will share my project proposal, however in short I aim to produce a short docu-series entitled Hybridised Plates.
The full proposal is below:
This proposed project will, through the research and development of a documentary film series explore how second-generation British Chinese have utilised food to negotiate, redefine, and reclaim their identity. The British Chinese community remains relatively understudied, and the narrative of what it means to be ‘British Chinese’ is often oversimplified. As a group, the ‘British Chinese’ have been frequently reduced to statistics of academic or professional success, overlooking the flavour that Chinese migrants add to British society. This project will begin to fill that lacuna. Through the diplomatic medium of food, the project will reveal how this community redefines “authenticity” in the dishes they have developed for consumers at home or on the high street, challenging the rigid or commercially driven concept of “authentic” Chinese food. The intimate portraits of chefs, food bloggers, and families, within the project will help to explore how the second generation has redeveloped dishes that reflect an upbringing across cultures. whilst reclaiming the hybrid identities of British Chinese or ‘British-born Chinese’ on their own terms.
Moreover, the project will build upon my historical research into the Chinese in Britain, demonstrating the community’s heterogeneity and the first generation’s establishment of restaurants and takeaways as a means of survival and economic integration. Investigating how the second-generation migrant experiences of this environment led to a diversification of “authentic” foods. To explore this, the project aims to produce a mini-series for publication on accessible platforms, enabling a democratisation of knowledge. Each episode will combine visual historical sources with personal interviews and employ historical narratives alongside striking culinary cinematography. In doing so, the project meets the talent programme mission by engaging with film diplomacy from the ground up, highlighting the everyday diplomats, the British Chinese community, who have, through food and across generations, long built cultural bridges across the UK and China.
Using film to document the living history of the British Chinese community will showcase how the Chinese in Britain are active creators and participants of contemporary British culture, while maintaining a fluid connection to their heritage. Thus, moving the conversation beyond stereotypes, and spreading awareness and understanding of the colourful, nuanced reality of a second-generation at a cultural crossroads. With the mentorship and platform of the Future Talent Programme, I am confident the project will transform into a powerful testament to the evolving, collaborative spirit of UK-China relations, one plate at a time.
Bill’s History Blog 
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