Filmwaves: Let’s find a starting point for this discussion.
Atif: I want to begin by stating my project as it pertains to cultural identity from the outset. For me, what is of interest is exploring the processes through which individuals generate cultural identities and identifications. In my work around "British-Asians-ness" my interest is in exploring the ways in which "British-Asian-ness" has been constituted and identified over particular periods of time and within given fields of cultural production¹. My interest is NOT in arriving at coherent, stable understandings of "British-Asian-ness", but rather examining given Asian communities as models of migrant communities who journey to a "foreign land" and construct a notion of home, and, within that, notions of nationalism and identity.

Filmwaves: Let’s talk about the history of British-Asian independent filmmaking.
Atif: The history of this field needs to be seen concurrently with the processes of migration of Asian people to Britain and the subsequent generational structures of experiences and expectation which would emerge in Britain from the post-war period into the contemporary moment. In principle, I would suggest that there have been three generations of British-Asian communities, settled in Britain. Each generation has developed its own relationship to cultural production and consumption.

Up until 1962, all migrants from former Commonwealth countries were entitled to British citizenship as a right of having been part of the former British empire. For many early migrants, a wage in pounds sterling was very attractive. One man’s wage could support an entire extended family in the Sub-continent. Until 1962, this early generation of migrants were coming here with the aim of gaining an income by working on the London Underground, or in the textile and manufacturing industries, and going back to their families and homes in the sub-continent, or wherever.

In 1962, the legislation around citizenship was altered so that one was required to be born in Britain in order to gain British citizenship. Although, the change to the rules of British citizenship were intended to stem the flow of migrants from the former colonies, it functioned to increase the overall migration, as whole families hearing of the limitation to citizenship rushed to settle in Britain, as to acquire British citizenship.

The types of films which were emerging from this first generation, were very much stories coming from specific cultures rather than exploring cultural syncretisation within a British context...

What about the second generation?...
Why is 1981 so important? What events would impact this second generation in the post-1981 period?...
The 1980s are regularly seen as the renaissance of "Black" filmmaking. What are your thoughts on this?...
Can you outline some of the basic tenants of this theoretical film-practice?...
What about My Beautiful Laundrette?...
So, what is the future of British-Asian films?...
What about Take-Away Productions? What’s Too Fast?...