In the eye of the beholder:The Orientalist representation of Chinese migrants in Italian documentaries

Beginning in the mid-2000s, a number of documentaries about Chinese migration to Italy have been produced both by professional directors and by amateurs, all with no Chinese background, that are mainly aimed at revealing the hidden ‘reality’ of the Chinese immigration population on one hand and, on the other hand, at discarding some of the wide spread prejudices about this group. I selected five of the professionally shot documentaries in order to analyse how they portray the Chinese migrant presence in Italy. While all of these documentaries make an important effort to present Chinese migration to Italy as a positive phenomenon, Orientalism as well as elements of cultural essentialism can still persist. My analysis focuses on the points of view that different directors adopt in depicting Chinese life in Italy, stressing if, where, and how their narratives emphasize cultural distance, otherness and essentialism.