What does it mean to have your identity as an Australian constantly questioned? To be asked, not just where you’re from, but where you’re really from?
It’s a question that comedian Michael Hing still gets asked in 2019 – even though the Hing family migrated to Australia more than a hundred years and five generations ago.
In order to understand how other people respond to the question, season 2 of Where Are You Really From? follows Michael to four rural and suburban communities where he meets a diverse mix of Australians.
The 4-part series is produced by the team from The Feed, SBS VICELAND’s award-winning news and current affairs’ programme.
Playful but moving, the series explores the complex issues of cultural heritage and identity, and the way our assumptions around what an Australian looks like impact our understanding of what it means to be Australian. Where Are You Really From? connects wider Australia to a history and to communities many people would not be aware of.
Michael meets Italian families that overcame racism and World War II internment to become the beating heart of the Far North Queensland town of Ingham. He then travels to Katanning, a Western Australian community of 4,000 people and more than 40 different nationalities. He also heads to the Barossa Valley to learn about the forgotten history of the German-speaking refugees and their fight to save the Barossa-German dialect passed down for nearly 200 years. In the final episode, Michael joins the Assyrian community of Fairfield, many that fled warzones to make new home in Western Sydney.
“In a time when Australia seems to be more divided than ever, telling these stories of incredible people overcoming hardship, changing their communities and often making new lives for themselves has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on.”
“It’s an absolute privilege to bring these stories to Australians because in a way, they are representative of a lot of stories all migrant communities go through, and they shine a light on the bright and inclusive future we can be a part of.”
Their stories test perceptions of Australian identity and highlight the ways in which cultural expectations and stereotypes can impact people.
Where Are You Really From? premieres 8pm Wednesday, 19 June on SBS.
