* CALL FOR PAPERS - REMINDER *







 

Sights and
Sites:  Topographical Approaches to
British Cinema

 

A Post-Graduate
Study Day, 2nd April 2011

Hosted by Queen
Mary, University of London

 

Opening Address: Prof.
Janet Harbord (Queen Mary, University of London)

 

In the last two
decades the notions of ‘space’ and ‘place’ have become a paramount topic within
film studies, often encouraging interdisciplinary work with subjects as
far-ranging as geography, anthropology and post-colonial studies.  With no sign of the topographical approach
losing momentum, this post-graduate study day intends to use the topic of
space, in all its myriad forms, to encourage innovative discussions on British
Cinema.  The deliberate choice of a broad
area of film studies as an entry point to consider British Cinema is intended
to attract postgraduate students from a variety of specialisms, ensuring a day
of intellectually vibrant and diverse presentations and dialogues. The day will
be structured around four workshop sessions, with coffees, a buffet lunch and a
closing wine reception.

 

To maximise the day’s discussions
participants are required to submit their papers (max 2500 words) shortly in
advance of the event, in order that they can be circulated.  Participants will then make a brief
presentation on the day outlining their main arguments (5-10 mins).  Participants are expected to prepare at least
one question for each paper circulated.

 

Abstracts are welcomed on, but not
restricted to, the following themes:

 

Narrative Space:  filmic constructions of
utopias, dystopias and heterotopias; the use of interiors and exteriors;
mediating the urban and rural; journey narratives; spaces of fantasy; space and
genre.    

Spatialising Identity:  the body in space and
questions of phenomenology; gendered spaces; queer spaces; colonial and
post-colonial spaces; exilic spaces; place and the notion of community and/ or belonging.


The Aesthetics of Space:  the construction and use
of on and off-screen space; the use of sound in creating space; questions of
frames, borders and boundaries; the impact of digital technology on spatial
aesthetics.     

Sites of Productions and Exhibition:  location shoots and the
notion of a tourist gaze; situating the cinema of the so-called ‘Celtic fringe’
within a British Cinema context; exploring the north-south divide; the impact
of new media on sites of exhibition/reception; situating British Cinema within
a global context; questioning local versus world-wide appeal; audience
receptions; British film festivals; British Cinema as a national/trans-national/global
industry.   

 

Please
submit 200 word abstracts and a brief biography to Lavinia Brydon and Jimmy Hay
at [log in to unmask]  Suggestions for panels of 3 speakers are
welcome.  Deadline:  16th January 2011.  As this is a study day, places are limited.