International Symposium on Trans Cinema Studies
19th May 2009 at the University of Amsterdam
Co-sponsored by T-Image Foundation and The Amsterdam School for Cultural
Analysis Convened by Eliza Steinbock, PhD Candidate at ASCA and board
member of T-Image Foundation
Taking place in conjunction with the Netherlands Transgender Film Festival
(NTGF)
20-24 May 2009 at de Balie Cultural Center
In celebration of our 5th bi-annual festival, we will convene a full day
of debate amongst scholars, filmmakers, the transgender community, and
festival attendees. We imagine this symposium to be both reflective and
forward-looking.
Susan Stryker (visiting Professor, Harvard University and Associate
Professor Gender Studies, Indiana University) will present her
groundbreaking work on Christine Jorgenson, a transsexual celebrity and
filmmaker, as well as lead the closing plenary.
We invite 20 min. presentations from scholars and/or professionals in the
field. In the interest of staking out some of the concerns of "trans
cinema studies," we suggest the following issues:
History: in what ways have gay and lesbian television, cinema and
festivals enabled trans visibility; what are the histories of other
avenues of emergence; in what ways have film festivals shaped the films
that have been made?;
Accessibility/Distribution: what might we do about the identity 'problem'
facing trans film festivals, which as a platform for trans cinema are
sidelined as being too specialist or become redundant as more queer film
festivals curate a trans program; what are the implications of greater or
lesser distribution for certain films at festivals and elsewhere?
Reception: what work do (trans) viewers perform on films to make them
trans, read them as trans, to make the films work in particular ways; what
is at stake in trans perceptibility and how might we understand it?
Film Craft: to what extent have techniques and strategies from queer and
feminist film been incorporated into trans cinema and vice versa;
is 'transness' in the director, content, conventions/expectations, the
market, or?;
Genre: which genres has trans representation tapped into and why; which
genres have not yet been explored; might trans cinema be an expansive term
to include experimental cinema (new languages and strategies)?;
Representation: what are the dominant and subjugated models of trans
representation, especially in terms of the politics of nation, race, age,
sexuality, and class; what kinds of shifts have occurred in terms of films
with MTF or transfeminine characters and films with FTM or transmasculine
characters?;
Film Theory: how might feminist film theory overlap with trans film
theory; do we mean 'trans' as a concept or a practice; what methods of
film analysis and film history does trans cinema render obsolete; what
tools of analysis does trans cinema call for and suggest?
Interdisciplinarity: in what ways might transgender/transsexual practice
and cinema relate?; how might shared concepts, such as, duration,
narrative, technology expand and enrich both fields of study?;
Please submit a 250 word abstract of your intended paper
and a biographical note.
Send to Eliza Steinbock <eliza_at_transgenderfilmfestival.com>
by 1 February 2009.
We look forward to your response and hope to see you in May!
www.transgenderfilmfestival.com
--
Ogunleye, Yemisi (Miss)
www.iq4news.com
Head of Communications,
MeCCSA Post-Graduate Network
website: http://www.meccsa.org.uk/pgn/
Media & Communications Dept.,
Birmingham City University,
City North Campus,
Birmingham
B42 2SU
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