Waves Documentary

Filmed at the beginning of the international student boom in Aotearoa, Waves is a documentary following four Chinese students and their introduction to the Western high school system, their adjustment to a new culture and their experience of displacement from their native China. It was independently produced and directed by Li Tao, a Chinese journalist and filmmaker whose own personal journey of transferring to Aotearoa, first as a student at Victoria University of Wellington, then as a teacher in the Hutt Valley, paved the way for her to chronicle the stories of Asian teenagers in a foreign land.

Set in Pōneke in the early 2000s, and featuring secondary schools in the region including Hutt Valley High School, Hutt International Boys School and Chilton Saint James School, the documentary principally observes students Ken, Rose, Lin and Jane, each at different stages of their cultural immersion. Each student’s story is dedicated to a chapter, with all four chapters collectively presenting a broadly relatable, yet uniquely insightful view of academic and social life alongside the formation of individual identity and belonging.

Ken’s chapter is framed around the theme of loneliness, as he navigates homestay life with a surrogate family while privately longing for his real family in China. Both Rose and Lin’s chapters reveal a strong desire to integrate socially, though not without challenges: Rose tries to break through her isolation as a foreigner by participating in school activities, with the hope she’ll forge friendships with non-Chinese classmates; while Lin is caught between the embrace of newfound freedoms — including her excitement for an upcoming school ball — and meeting the strict expectations of her Chinese parents. Jane’s chapter is a portrait of independence and determined resistance to new surroundings. For Jane, the opportunity of an English education, while a hard-earned privilege, is temporary and she yearns to return home; her Chinese family and way of life central to her worldview, regardless of where she is in the world.

Following its world premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2006, Waves enjoyed an extended life on DVD as an education resource in Aotearoa, China and around the world. It was widely covered by Asian news media in Aotearoa, and in 2007 was screened in four parts on satellite television in Asia.

Writing for the Asia Media Centre, a July 2023 article by Carla Teng on the legacy of Waves notes a sequel is being developed by Li Tao, which will revisit the lives of several students from the original documentary, “including Rose, Jane, and Mingming [Lin’s best friend], and will focus on their career development, love lives, family dynamics, and experiences in parenting – dealing with the challenges of adulthood.”

Watch Waves online at NZ Film On Demand

Waves at the New Zealand International Film Festival

'Waves: Diaries of Chinese International Students in New Zealand' — Asia Media Centre