01 March 2019
An Insider Perspective
on the Script in Practice
Vincenzo Giarrusso
The machinations of industry, the exigencies of film funding and the producer’s prominent role in setting fiscal and marketing objectives for film production seem incongruous with scriptwriting as a generative creative practice in the filmmaking process.
01 March 2019
An Insider Perspective
on the Script in Practice
Vincenzo Giarrusso
The machinations of industry, the exigencies of film funding and the producer’s prominent role in setting fiscal and marketing objectives for film production seem incongruous with scriptwriting as a generative creative practice in the filmmaking process.
01 March 2019
An Insider Perspective
on the Script in Practice
Vincenzo Giarrusso
The machinations of industry, the exigencies of film funding and the producer’s prominent role in setting fiscal and marketing objectives for film production seem incongruous with scriptwriting as a generative creative practice in the filmmaking process.
In the 1970s, Australia became one of the first developed countries to adopt a multicultural policy approach to manage its growing diversity. In the four decades since, the nation has been transformed almost beyond recognition.
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To explore our contemporary multicultural life, two Swinburne academics have teamed up to investigate our new lived reality through a new lens.
Combining a sociological imagination and the evocative power of film, Dr Glenda Ballantyne (Sociology) and Dr Vincent Giarrusso (Film and Television) are harnessing the revelatory power of film to:
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Convey the intimate and often overlooked aspects of our multicultural lives, including new forms of exclusion and racism, through ‘sociomentaries’ - films that are part documentary, part sociology.
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Capture contemporary experiences of diversity among second generation Australians, through the work of and interviews with young film makers.
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Investigate the evolving representations of diversity on our cinema and television screens.
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Crowd-source data/content on everyday multiculturalism through ‘mobilementaries’- sociomentaries made on mobile phones/devices.
As well as this important research, our project aims to foster inclusive and positive social change by:
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Supporting young filmmakers to tell their stories of diversity.
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Providing a place to explore, research, and celebrate multicultural representation in cinema and on TV, and in our lives.
On this website you will find information about:
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our research
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our films
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the films made by the young film makers who have been part of the project
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how you can be part of Zooming In
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We are grateful to the Victorian Multicultural Commission for the generous support they have provided for this research and its associated film projects:
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The VMC/Swinburne Summer Film Program (2017-2020), in which Swinburne film students created short films for the VMC on themes of refugees, diversity and racism.
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The annual Multicultural Film Festival (previously known as the Victorian Multicultural Commission Film Festival) (2018, 2019 2020 postponed due to COVID-19, 2021) a collaboration of Swinburne and VMC.
Please join our community of film makers, content creators, academics, social science professionals, researchers, students and a diverse community of representatives and individuals as we go 'Zooming In' on these stories through our growing collection of short films, research papers, articles and events.
ABOUT
Vincent Giarrusso
Vincent Giarrusso is a lecturer in Film and Television specialising in creative writing for screen and direction. His practice, teaching, and research is underpinned by an emphasis on the social and cultural significance of filmmaking. Vincent successfully submitted his PhD for examination in 2018. His thesis called A Country Practice: A Study of Mediation in Scriptwriting Practice is an autoethnographical analysis of scriptwriter practice in the Australian film industry.
Vincent works with Dr Glenda Ballantyne and the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) on research project "Zooming in: multiculturalism through the lens of the next generation" which uses film and sociology to generate new perspectives on multiculturalism and diversity.
Vincent is also an active practitioner in the film and music industries. His film Mallboy (2000), which he wrote, directed, and composed music was selected for the Directors Fortnight at Cannes International Film Festival. Vincent is also an ARIA award winning and AMP (Australian Music Prize) nominated musician (2018 and 2019) and was nominated for AMCOS/APRA Australian Song of the year in 2019.
Glenda Ballantyne
Dr Glenda Ballantyne is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Deputy Chair of the Department of Social Science at Swinburne University, where she teaches and researches in the areas of migration and cultural diversity. Before moving into academia, Glenda worked as a publisher and editor, and was active in the women's movement and local initiatives to foster intercultural dialogue and active citizenship. Fostering multidirectional dialogue and mutual recognition and understanding across cultural boundaries is her passion!
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Glenda’s current research interests are focused on interculturalism and multiculturalism and second-generation experiences of diversity and racism in Australia. Her research for Zooming In is a major focus. She has published on second-generation Australians fears and dreams for the future and is currently working on a study of new visions of diversity emerging in Australian film, TV and comedy.
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When she is not doing that, she is working on intercultural approaches to diversity policy with a focus on policy innovations at the city level. She has written about intercultural policy in Melton, on the edge of Melbourne, and is working on a large, three-country comparative study with a team of colleagues from Melbourne, Adelaide, Barcelona and Montreal. Supported by the EU, this project is entitled the International Intercultural Cities Comparative Study.
VMC
The Victorian Multicultural Commission was established as an independent body in 1983 and is now constituted under the Multicultural Victoria Act 2011.
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The VMC supports and advocates for culturally and linguistically diverse Victorians. Through consultation, advocacy, celebration and promotion, the VMC serves to strengthen cultural diversity in Victoria.
