CALL FOR PAPERS

Studies in French Cinema Conference 2008: 'French Cinema to 1940'.

FRENCH INSTITUTE, LONDON, WEDNESDAY 9 APRIL 2008

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/crif/sfc/conference.htm

The first four decades of French cinema produced some of its most
iconic films, as well as its most celebrated directors, stars and
scriptwriters. It is the time of the great pioneers of cinema
(Lumière, Méliès, Gance, L'Herbier, Guy) and the period when France
was at the forefront of both technological cinematic development and
aesthetic experimentation.

Some aspects of this cinematic history are well documented. Certain
figures (Renoir, Clair, Gabin), films (from Le Voyage à travers
l'impossible to La Règle du jeu) hold clear positions, canonized in
the story of world cinema. And yet, compared with the critical and
scholarly attention currently devoted to contemporary cinema, there
remain many aspects of French film history from this period that have
yet to be investigated, or which are ripe for re-evaluation. For
example, scholarly work on the silent period has largely focused on
the high brow, from the impressionist films of Epstein or Dulac to the
epics of Abel Gance, while popular stars (Chevalier, Linder,
Mistinguett, Musidora) and genres (crime films, melodramas) have
attracted less attention. And, while the 1930s may be synonymous with
the classic films of Poetic Realism, or the avant garde challenges of
Surrealism, as Dudley Andrew points out, these films represent less
than 10% of those produced during the decade (1995: 16).

The aim of this conference, then, is to go some way to redressing the
balance, to encourage scholarship in this area, to re-examine some
well-worn myths of these foundational decades of French cinema, and to
open up new areas for historical investigation. Papers are invited on
any aspect of French cinema prior to the Occupation. In particular,
papers are solicited on the following areas:

*       Silent French cinema
*       The transition from silent cinema to sound
*       Cinema and music
*       Stardom and performance
*       Popular genres and series
*       Colonial cinema
*       French cinema in the international arena
*       Cinema and the avant-garde
*       Cinema and politics in the Third Republic
*       Structures of the industry

Please send abstracts of between 200 and 300 words to Sarah Leahy
([log in to unmask]) by 1 December 2007.

NOTE A L'INTENTION DE COLLEGUES FRANCOPHONES: Nous faisons circuler
les communications ecrites quinze jours avant le colloque et le jour
meme nous demandons aux intervenants un resume de 5-10 minutes, suivi
de debats. Vous pouvez nous proposer des communications en francais,
mais normalement nous vous demanderions de presenter votre
communication en anglais.

-- 
Iain Robert Smith
Doctoral Student
Institute of Film and Television
School of American and Canadian Studies
University of Nottingham
University Park
NG7 2RD