*CFP* "(DE)CONSTRUCTING ITALIANS: GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND RECEPTION OF ITALIAN CHARACTERS", INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

(De)Constructing Italians: Global Production and Reception of Italian Characters

International Conference

Milan, December 2-3 2021

 

 

The conference will develop along two key dimensions. The first one, mostly narratological, will investigate the dynamics of the character in relation to the specificities of the texts and the relationships they establish with their user. The second dimension, chiefly socio-anthropological, psychological and economic, will focus on the relationships of characters with broader social and cultural processes.

Authors interested in contributing to the conference are invited to send an abstract (maximum 250 words, excluding bibliography), in Italian or English, to convegno.decoitalians@unicatt.it.

 

*CFP* "DISTANT SHORES: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE AUSTRALIAN NEW WAVE", ONLINE CONFERENCE

Distant Shores: International Perspectives on the Australian New Wave

Online Conference

28-29 October 2021

Menzies Australia Institute (King’s College London)

 

Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of both Wake in Fright (Kotcheff, 1971) and Walkabout (Roeg, 1971) appearing in London cinemas on the same weekend, this two-day online conference seeks to explore the range of international and transnational perspectives that helped shape the Australian New Wave of the 1970s and 80s.

Coming after a prolonged period of production ‘drought’, the Australian New Wave has typically been framed via the rhetoric of cultural nationalism, and celebrated for its articulation of a range of ideas, histories, and narratives about the Australian nation. 

*CFP* "PAST AND PRESENT INTERSECTIONS AMONG ITALIAN, RUSSIAN, SOVIET AND POST-SOCIALIST CINEMAS AND MEDIA", THEMED ISSUE, JOURNAL OF ITALIAN CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES

Italian cinema and media are translational and transnational. They are imported and exported, transferred, translated, adopted, adapted and re-interpreted. They move in multiple directions and constantly intersect with other filmmaking and media cultures, in particular with cinemaand media traditions from Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Union. The seminal work published in the bilingual (Italian and Russian) volume Russia-Italia. Un secolo di cinema (ABCDesign 2020), edited by Olga Strada and Claudia Olivieri, sponsored by the Italian Embassy in Moscow, and presented both at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival and at the 42nd edition of the International Film Festival in Moscow in fall 2020, is the first and largest collection of essays, interviews, testimonials, photographs and unpublished documents, exploring the artistic, cultural and historical relationship between Russia and Italy starting from early cinema.

Within such an intersectional framework, scholars are invited to engage in new methodologically critical approaches to Italian cinema and media in order to recover overlooked connections and re-compose them in historic and aesthetic maps, and also to examine commercial and distribution relations marked by cross-national dialogues and trans-generational exchanges.

*CFP* "REFRAMING THE NATION: RACIALIZED & QUEER DIASPORIC WOMEN OF COLOUR AND QUEER INDIGENOUS CANADIAN INDEPENDENT WOMEN FILMMAKERS 1990-2020", EDITED COLLECTION

Reframing the Nation is the first critical film anthology from an intersectional Canadian context that is dedicated to a close engagement with impactful films produced by racialized diasporic, indigenous, and Queer BIPOC independent women filmmakers in Canada. This collection charts the cinematic visions and perspectives of first and second generation diasporic and indigenous filmmakers and Queer BIack, Indigenous, Women of Colour Canadian Independent Women Filmmakers working from 1990-2020. Works considered can be shorts or features that are independent Canadian productions. Independent films tend to reflect artistic practices that are rooted in personal, political, aesthetic, cultural, philosophical, and social justice concerns, they are typically arts council funded and/or co-produced with other agencies. A vital component of independent film is that the filmmaker maintains artistic/editorial control over their work. Comparative papers between Canadian productions and international productions are welcome.

Please Submit Abstracts (300 words) & short bio (125 words) up until April 15, 2021

Notification of acceptance: within three weeks of receipt of the abstract.

*CFP* "CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN INTERNATIONALLY PRODUCED HIGH-END DRAMA", SPECIAL ISSUE 2022, CRITICAL STUDIES IN TELEVISION

International coproduction, which Michelle Hilmes (2014:10) defines as “a partnership between two or more different national production entities” located in different countries, is exerting a notable influence on the creation of new high-end TV dramas produced outside the US. As ‘peak TV’ continues to expand the annual volume of US-produced TV fiction to unprecedented levels (Koblin 2020), continuing audience demand for distinctive original drama is fuelling new opportunities for high-end drama production in a larger range of countries. The important consequence has been an increased cultural and/or linguistic diversity for high-end dramas produced for international distribution. Attended by a new emphasis on serial form and storytelling, this development and diversity is exemplified by Babylon Berlin (ARD/Sky Deutschland/Netflix), Anne With An E (CBC/Netflix), My Brilliant Friend (Rai/HBO), World On Fire (BBC/PBS), Bad Banks (ZDF/Arte) and Finnish/Spanish example Paratiisi/The Paradise (YLE), among others. These dramas make visible and treat as a matter-of-fact the cultural diversity and encounter that Janet McCabe (2017) indicates were previously treated as disruptive to the imagination of the national community that broadcasters sought to represent.

While regional funding schemes and content regulations are making their own contributions, the expansion and cultural diversification of non-US high-end drama can also be attributed to the institutional capacities of ‘multiplatform’ television (Dunleavy 2018). As a label that recognises the internet as a pervasive platform for television, this ‘multiplatform’ era is one in which broadcast, cable/satellite and internet-only TV networks are collaborating as well as competing and the earlier distinctions it was possible to make between internet-distributed and so-called ‘legacy’ TV services are beginning to recede. 

*CFP* "NEW FRONTIERS OF TELEVISION", CONFERENCE

New Frontiers of Television

Wroclaw, Poland

Organization: Institute of Cultural Studies, University of Wroclaw

Even though many have predicted its’ demise, television continues to be a very potent medium at the turn of the 21st century’s second decade. Available on the Internet, television content plays a vital role not only in the entertainment milieu, but also in the society as a whole. American scripted shows in particular have recently claimed unprecedented cultural significance. They are also now more abundant than ever before, with the famous “peak TV” trend showing no signs of slowing down. From a global perspective, it seems that the big Internet SVOD players are calling the shots, reaching millions of subscribers outside of the United States. However, this rapid expansion does not necessarily equal homogenization, and – as Netflix’s and Amazon’s international co-productions prove – it can facilitate new forms of global cultural exchange. 

The rapid expansion of internet SVOD carriers seems to be of particular interest to scholars of contemporary culture, as the portals in question recently became the primary source of entertainment for the digital natives generation.

*CFP* CALL FOR ARTICLES, STUDIES IN WORLD CINEMA: A CRITICAL JOURNAL

Studies in World Cinema: A Critical Journal offers a platform to examine, rethink and reinvent the notion of “world cinema”. What do we understand by “world cinema”, and how useful or enabling is this term? Taking the world as a space of signification in which we continually reproduce its meanings, this journal opens up inquiries about films and cinematic practices that engender novel senses of the world.

The journal welcomes research on traveling cinematic tropes, transnational practices, remakes and adaptations, translation cultures, migrant and diasporic films and film cultures, postcolonial and accented cinemas, collaborations and exchanges among filmmakers, co-productions and multinational filmmaking practices and networks, and early cinematic practices. Together we aim to develop a fruitful and more enriching understanding of our world cinema.

*CFP* “CULTURAL NEIGHBOURHOODS AND CO-PRODUCTIONS IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE AND BEYOND” 4TH CONTEMPORARY GREEK FILM CULTURES CONFERENCE

Cultural Neighbourhoods and Co-productions in South East Europe and Beyond

3-6/4/2020

Thessaloniki, University of Macedonia

Luisa Rivi (2007) argued that in the last decades cinema turned into a privileged space for the examination of European identities. The shift to the ‘economy of signs’ (Lash and Urry 1993) reconfigured the ties of culture with economy. In the EU context, culture became a policy-oriented field (Shore 2006) supporting the processes of Europeanisation. At the same time, new borders transformed the European landscape and (re)drew the attention to south East Europe. The notion of ‘neighbourhood’ (Appadurai 1996) became significant both in the reconsideration of space in a more socially and culturally sensitive way and in the process of Europeanisation. In this framework, although co-productions were often defined as economic ventures, nowadays, they are considered a much more complex space of interwoven economic, cultural and political relations. 

This space often draws from past affinities, cross-border geographies, media policies, economic exigencies, political agendas as well as creative visions. Touching upon these different perspectives of co-productions, the conference will explore how the Greek cinema connects to other regional cinemas like in south East Europe, (trans-)forming ‘cultural neighbourhoods’. Moreover, it would explore how these shifts become interwoven with the European cultural policies and identity politics and their impact on the (re)configurations of the ‘local’ / ‘national’ / ‘transnational’. This thematic focus on the cultural, spatial and scalar aspects of co-productions responds to three interrelated circumstances:

DEFENSA DE TESIS "CINE TRANSNACIONAL. LA COPRODUCCIÓN HISPANOFRANCESA (1987-1999)"

Próxima defensa de tesis del Departamento de Periodismo y Comunicación Audiovisual de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Información de la tesis:

"Cine transnacional. La coproducción hispanofrancesa (1987-1999)"

Autor/a: ANA MARÍA MEJÓN MIRANDA

7ª SESIÓN SEMINARIO DOIMECO, "TRES MIL COPRODUCCIONES, CINCO AÑOS Y UNA TESIS"

*CFP* "EXPLORING FLOWS AND COUNTER-FLOWS OF INFORMATION ALONG THE NEW SILK ROAD", SPECIAL ISSUE COMMUNICATION AND THE PUBLIC

The “New Silk Road”, or in the Chinese official discourse, the “Belt & Road initiative一带一路” was launched in 2013 to reconnect China with countries in Asia, Middle East, Europe and Africa and to establish different levels of cooperation with new partners. The complexity of this initiative is reflected in the diverse definitions provided by different stakeholders such as:

1. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious effort to improve regional cooperation and connectivity on a trans-continental scale. The initiative aims to strengthen infrastructure, trade, and investment links between China and some 65 other countries (The World Bank) 
2. China's ambitious plan for linking Asia and Europe and Africa through new massive infrastructure projects (European Parliament)
3. The Belt and Road Initiative is a systematic project, which should be jointly built through consultation to meet the interests of all, and efforts should be made to integrate the development strategies of the countries along the Belt and Road. (Chinese Government)

*CFP* "AMÉRICA LATINA / ESPAÑA / EUROPA: AYUDAS INSTITUCIONALES Y COPRODUCCIÓN CINEMATOGRÁFICA DESDE 1990", Nº 76, ARCHIVOS DE LA FILMOTECA

Desde hace algunos años se han desarrollado en el campo de los estudios cinematográficos nuevos ejes de investigación centrados en las dinámicas contemporáneas de la financiación y la circulación de películas en un mundo globalizado, en el que las nuevas tecnologías digitales han permitido una fabricación y difusión cinematográfica mucho más rápida. Así, se han multiplicado los ensayos sobre el cine transnacional para proponer una reflexión sobre los contextos de producción y de circulación de los «cines del mundo» y sus estéticas. Estos trabajos evidencian las necesidades específicas de financiación para estos proyectos que acuden masivamente a las ayudas públicas y sin cuya participación les resultaría difícil financiarse y circular.

Europa ha protagonizado las batallas por la «excepción» y luego la «diversidad» cultural, cuyo vigor se ha visto reflejado en la creación de fondos de ayuda a la producción de cines «del sur» o «del mundo» que ha permitido el posicionamiento de Europa como centro alternativo frente a la dominación estadounidense. Al mismo tiempo, los países que más se han beneficiado de estas ayudas también tienen o han puesto recientemente en marcha (por primera vez en la historia, a veces) programas de fomento para la realización de sus cines nacionales. La conjunción de estas ayudas, pese a las restringidas dotaciones nacionales en la mayoría de los casos, genera unos públicos para un cine local, financiado con criterios europeos. Consecuentemente, dichos públicos resultan más receptivos a producciones europeas, lo que mejora sus posibilidades de exportación y difusión en países de Latinoamérica. El tema de la visibilidad del cine que se beneficia de estas ayudas europeas es fundamental, y lleva a preguntarnos hasta qué punto la impronta europea forma parte de su identificación por los públicos.

*CFP* "THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NORTH: CANADIAN HORROR MEDIA", EDITED COLLECTION

Horror stories speak of our fears.  In doing so, horror stories also speak of our everyday, our “normal,” as this ordinariness is quickly thrown into disarray.  Things That Go Bump in the North will look at Canadian horror across media – from fiction, film, and television to games, graphic novels, and web series.  This edited collection considers what Canadian horror texts can tell us about Canadian culture, media, history, and politics.  Things That Go Bump in the North aims to see horror stories as stories about nation, as sites for critical reflection on the meanings and uses of “Canada” in this genre – and what we are terrified to lose, or perhaps keep.

This collection deliberately uses “Canadian” and of “horror” loosely in order to more fully explore the cultural work of horror stories.  By “Canadian,” we seek texts that are by, in, and/or about Canada or Canadians; “horror” includes inflections like the gothic and the grotesque, the silly and the supernatural.  We encourage diverse submissions from a range of critical approaches and research methods; we are particularly excited about work that addresses Indigenous, diasporic, and other underrepresented productions and perspectives. 

*CFP* MONOGRÁFICO "LA DESINTERMEDIACIÓN DEL AUDIOVISUAL", FONSECA: JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION

Fonseca: Journal of Communication prepara una nueva edición de Monográficos, "La Desintermediación del Audiovisual", por lo que abre convocatoria para nuevas propuestas bajo la coordinación de María Jesús Díaz González y José Juan Videla Rodríguez, del Departamento de Sociología y Ciencias de la Comunicación de la Universidade da Coruña.

El sector audiovisual está inmerso en un proceso de transformaciones que cada vez se producen en menor lapso de tiempo. La tecnología transforma los grupos empresariales, los modos de producción, los modelos de negocio, los procesos creativos, los modos de acceso. Los límites se difuminan: la radio es visual, la tv es textual, las series se asemejan a las películas, y las empresas y profesionales tienen el reto de asumir esta integración.