An Immigrant Nation

Category: Video

An immigrant nation. The unbroken thread by NZonScreen

Title	An immigrant nation. The unbroken thread
Author	NZonScreen
Producer	{{{producer}}}
Director	{{{director}}}
Starring	{{{starring}}}
Publisher	Top Shelf Productions
Year	1994
Language	English
Format	{{{format}}}
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Online resource	yes
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You can find the video here

The Wellington suburb of Island Bay is sometimes called Little Italy, thanks to the many Italians, especially from Massa Lubrense, who have moved there. This 1994 episode of An Immigrant Nation is based on interviews with Italian migrants, to the suburb, and the second/third generations - from the woman who remembers the time during World War II when locals stopped talking to her, to the young man feeling "a magnetic pull" back to Italy. The documentary is interesting not only for the history of the first immigrants, but also as a testament of how life was in New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Apparently not all participants were happy with the final editing of the programme, which they felt was steered towards New Zealanders' existing perceptions and stereotypes rather than being truly representative of their community, especially for the younger generations. ​