Barriers to Diversity in Film – A Research Review – Aug 07

make films about ‘their issues’. The debate is perceived as an ‘either-
or’ situation, that is making ‘ghetto’ films or entering the mainstream.
Recent research in television suggests that the impact on the
mainstream is minimal if only ‘ghettoised’ programmes are funded
(Campion 2005).
At the same time, the BFI report (2003) argues that films made by
disabled people are different from those made by non-disabled
people, since the most obvious fault in so-called ‘mainstream’ films is
that they explore disability through a medical rather than a social
perspective, making the final product voyeuristic and medical.
Disability also seems to be more present in the horror genre (see
stereotypes above). It is important for these films which are ghettoised
to lie side-by-side with mainstream films which feature non-
stereotyped, under-represented groups.
5.7 National identity and film
There is an issue about making films which reinforce national identity.
Films may exclude under-represented groups, giving an impression
that some groups within the public are invisible. On the other hand,
some films may challenge traditional notions of Britishness.
British film has often drawn on images of Britain as a country
concerned with heritage and tranquillity, such that many black British
films have not been funded (Murphy 2000). However, one author sees
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