'1857, the charismatic headman of the Chinese mining camp struggles to maintain the fragile harmony between Chinese and European diggers when a murdered European woman is discovered to have links to the Chinese community.' (Production summary)
'SBS’s New Gold Mountain sets out to recover the history of the Gold Rush from the marginalised perspective of Chinese settlers but instead reinforces the erasure of Indigenous sovereignty. Although celebrated for its multilingual script and diverse representation, the mini-TV series ignores how the settlement of Chinese migrants and their recruitment into colonial capitalism consolidates the ongoing displacement of First Nations peoples.' (Introduction)
'New Gold Mountain is a ‘revisionist Western’ drama series, aired on SBS TV in October 2021 and currently available via SBS On Demand. Set in 1857, in the Victorian goldfields town of Ballarat, it tells a story of Chinese mining endeavour and paints this community as a central part of the gold rushes. The body of a murdered European woman is discovered, suspicion falls on the Chinese community, and simmering racial tensions come to the fore. The lead character, Leung Wei Shing, the headman of the Chinese camp, navigates through the murder investigation, keeping the white authorities at bay, yet delving within the Chinese community to uncover the circumstances of the death.'(Introduction)
'The beautifully shot and evenly paced New Gold Mountain, the new series from SBS, is an 1850s-era murder mystery set in the Ballarat goldfields during the gold rush heyday.'
'Beautiful, heightened drama series following the Chinese community in 1850s Ballarat gives a fresh, cinematic spin on history'
'History, they say, is written by the victors. This has usually translated to "white men", especially when it comes to Australian history. But New Gold Mountain, a new homegrown series screening on SBS from October 13, brings some fresh voices to the fore to tell a dusty, blood-soaked yarn set in a familiar past.'
