This was published 8 years ago
SBS documentary Kebab Kings is a snapshot of multiculturalism in Australia today
By Paul Kalina
As filmmaker Michael Cordell sees it, the closest you can get to the fault lines of multiculturalism in Australia today is an inner-city kebab shop filled with nightclubbers gagging for a hit of greasy carbs before the arrival of the mother of all hangovers.
The three-part Kebab Kings is a fly-on-the-wall glimpse of comings and goings inside two kebab shops – one in George Street in central Sydney, the other in Melbourne's night spot Collingwood – where cultures clash over lamb spits and garlic sauce. It's an environment where anything can, and often does, happen.
Filmmaker Michael Cordell has praised the heroism and tolerance of the staff and owners featured in Kebab Kings.
"It's a snapshot of contemporary Australia on all sorts of levels," says Cordell, whose credits include Year Of The Dogs and A Case For The Coroner. "It tells us something about multicultural Australia in terms of the shop owners, these new Australians who are out there working their butts off to create successful businesses and this energy and enthusiasm not just for their shops but for Australia and their customers".
On the other side of the counter are lubricated night owls, clubbers, hipsters, shift workers, down-and-out drifters and homeless people.
Mustafa and Zareena in Kebab Kings.
"There are insights into alcohol, what people think about drugs, social media, dating, politics, just wonderful unfiltered snapshots of people talking in very open ways about those things. I think at times it will make you cringe a little bit, but I think it's a fascinating snapshot of the coalface of Australia".
Filmed in the lead-up to Christmas, the documentary was partly shot via six to eight cameras discreetly mounted on the shops' walls and counters, which were also plastered with notices alerting customers they were being filmed. In part, says Cordell, it is the technology itself that allowed the filmmakers to obtain the unfiltered and honest interactions that are a discernible feature of the documentary.
"I think if we tried to do a series using a regular film crew sitting in a shop filming and observing, apart from the fact they probably wouldn't fit, it would be a very different kind of show. It is camera-on-the-wall where you're just observing what's going on through a two-way mirror. It's very pure and powerful."
A strong influence for Cordell was the recent British documentary Educating Yorkshire, which was filmed during a year with 164 fixed cameras inside a school. "It's like bringing a school into a studio and follow them in a very pure and observational way," he notes.
Via monitors upstairs, the producers observed what was happening below. A crew was on hand to film additional material and to obtain release forms where needed.
But despite the occasional flashes of racism, bigotry or rudeness from customers, what Cordell noted was the heroism and tolerance of the shops' staff and owners.
"I defy anyone watching the show to not fall in love with the shop owners. For me they're wonderfully heroic characters on all sorts of levels. They work tirelessly, they're making sacrifices to improve their lives, put their kids through school, employ staff and build a business. And it's done with great passion, great respect for their customers. On that level it's a wonderful tribute to people who comes to Australia to establish a new life".
There is also the wonderful irony of Mustafa and Zareena, the enterprising and hugely ambitious owners of Collingwood's Smith Kebabs, being devout Muslims and forsaking the alcohol and other indulgences that many of their late-night customers evidently enjoy. Despite their faith, Cordell notes, "they accept that some people live in a different way and work to a different set of values and morals but they're not judgmental about it. That for me illustrates a wonderful degree of tolerance".
In general, however, people behaved well, which is reflected in the unpretentious humour. "That has something to do with the character of the shop owners, but I think it's also a reflection on the average Australian who is out having a good time and a few beers. Overall, it's a warm and life-affirming look at the coalface of multicultural and Anglo Australia".
Kebab Kings, SBS, Wednesday, 8.30pm