*CFP* "THE FILMS OF OLIVER STONE", REFOCUS SERIES

For many, Oliver Stone set the tone and pacing for the political film narrative in American cinema for nearly twenty years. First, we have to put Oliver Stone back in the current Hollywood system, a place a thousand leagues from where he occupied in the 80s and early 90s. Oliver Stone began as a screenwriter for filmmakers as John Milius (Conan the barbarian), Brian De Palma (Scarface), Michael Cimino (Year of the dragon) or Alan Parker (Midnight Express and an Oscar for best screenplay) before quickly becoming one of Hollywood's great filmmakers. Platoon, his fourth feature film after two low-budget films and Salvador with James Woods, won four Oscars including that of best film and best director. An unexpected triumph for a very personal film (Oliver Stone participated in the Vietnam War and this is a subject that is particularly important for him).

The American filmmaker, who has French origins through his mother, has a series of successful films such as Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July (which allows him to obtain a second Oscar for best director) or JFK. The turning point in his career was the public and critical failure of the last installment of his Vietnam trilogy (Heaven and Earth with Tommy Lee Jones). Oliver Stone's state of grace in Hollywood is over despite some modest box office successes (especially Any Given Sunday which saves his career from total wreck and even allows him to start his dream project on Alexander The Great).

This book must demonstrate all the thematic and aesthetic richness of his work. We are particularly interested in interdisciplinary approaches that can illuminate the various aspects of the director’s work and visual style. This volume will undertake to address the entirety of his work. As this volume will be peer-reviewed and scholarly, chapters are to be written at a high academic level.

Contributions could include – but are not limited to– the following topics:

• American Politics (and its international reception) 
• Christian Figure 
• The Father Figure 
• Oliver Stone’s vision of Film Genre 
• Oliver Stone and Cultural Studies 
• Oliver Stone and History 
• Violence 
• Influence of Joseph Campbell 
• Human ambivalence 
• Morality and transgression 
• Representations of masculinity and femininity 
• War and rebellion 
• Collaboration with other filmmakers (Brian De Palma, Michael Cimino…) 
• The individual opposing majority

 

This anthology will be organized into thematic sections around these topics and others that emerge from submissions. We are open to works that focus on other topics as well and authors interested in pursuing other related lines of inquiry. Feel free to contact the editor with any questions you may have about the project and please share this announcement with colleagues whose work aligns with the focus of this volume.

Submit a 300-500 words abstract of your proposed chapter contribution, a short bio and complete contact information to David Da Silva (bookoliverstoneproject@gmail.com) by January 29, 2021.

Essays included in the refereed anthology will be of approximately 6,000 to 8,000 words, referenced in Chicago endnote and American spellings.

The Films of Oliver Stone will be one of the scholarly editions to be published by Edinburgh University Press in a new series of anthologies examining overlooked American film directors. Series editors are Robert Singer, Ph.D, Frances Smith, Ph.D.,. and Gary D. Rhodes, Ph.D.

Note: Acceptance of a proposed abstract does not guarantee the acceptance of the full chapter into the completed volume.