Last evening I spent time with a dear friend, just arrived from the USA and talking to him brought a very basic question back to my mind. Why should I research "Diaspora" films? I've written a Ph.D proposal but somehow my mind is usurped into feeling that there are more reasons to study diaspora films than not. I will post on this another day after deep thought over the weekend!


Here is the concluding part of my email dialogue with Santhosh Daniel


Cecilia: Have the first generation Indian cultural dilemmas been captured on film. I find that movie directors are mainly from the second generation so they showcase more the second generation problems?

Santhosh: Good point... The second generation does dominate film and I think that if any questions of dichotomies are to be answered, the first generation has to
be addressed...first.I think most people disagree with me on this, as they believe that the second generation experience differs greatly from the first generation, but how I'd love to see a movie in which the Indian parent and the Indian-American child actually find a meeting point. Of course, that would be an idealized version of the world, but then, I also believe that seeing some reconciliation between the two generations [that have created the identity crisis] on film would at least hint that such things are not impossible and indeed necessary.