Media raconteur Benjamin Law presents Waltzing the Dragon with Benjamin Law, a documentary taking a fresh eye to the “sweet and the sour” of the China-Australia relationship, digging deep into the overlapping histories of the countries, unpacking the present and looking to the future of Australia’s waltz with the dragon.
Benjamin, a Queensland born and bred, self-described “ABC” (Australian born Chinese) who speaks “yum-cha Cantonese” investigates his own Chinese-Australian heritage and ask how his family’s journey fits in with those of the other 1.2 million Chinese Australians – a question not just relevant to him, but to all Australians as the nation’s ties with China continue to deepen.
Over two episodes, Benjamin goes road-tripping with his wonderfully hilarious mother Jenny, and then his ambitious entrepreneur father Danny, embarking on a fascinating journey to trace the Chinese-Australian history, from the days of the gold rush to Crazy Rich Asians. As Benjamin gains more of an understanding of how the two countries are entangled and China’s increasing sway over Australia’s fortune, so too will the viewer through his insightful and often witty narration.
In episode one, ‘Homecoming’, Benjamin and mum Jenny look for the ties of blood that bind China and Australia today and have kept its people at odds in the past. They travel from Caloundra to Canton in search of mysterious family roots.
They recall a tough, but iconic Australian family life which, for Benjamin, was shattered by Pauline Hanson’s 1996 election. In rural Queensland they bust myths surrounding colonial Australia, discovering Chinese farmers who transformed the state and in China they discover their ‘Australian-ness’ and uncover their place in a vast family lineage.
Waltzing the Dragon with Benjamin Law is a Headland Media and WildBear Entertainment Production for ABC.
