"Screening European Heritage", an AHRC-funded scoping study under the "Care
for the Future" strategic theme, invites proposals for 20-minute papers and
panels for an international conference to be held at the University of
Leeds, 12-13 September 2013.
From "La Reine Margot" (1994) to "The King's Speech" (2010), historical
dramas dominate mainstream European film production and often generate
major national debates on the role of the past in contemporary national
identity construction. Defined in the 1990s as "heritage films", the makers
of such films frequently work in partnership with the wider heritage
industry in order to secure funding for their productions. And the films,
along with the debates they generate, often shape the subsequent marketing
and curatorial strategy of the heritage sites they foreground in their
stories.
Led by the Centre for World Cinemas at the University of Leeds, in
collaboration with B-Film: The Birmingham Centre for Film Studies,
"Screening European Heritage" examines the representation of Europe's past
on contemporary screens, what this says about cultural attitudes to the
past and how this reflects, and can be shaped by, the policies and practice
of cultural institutions now and in the future. In the process, it raises
questions around the role and value of the past in cultural and societal
change, investigating how history is re-imagined by the contemporary film
and heritage industries and to what end.
We invite papers that engage with one or more of the project's three main
research questions:
- What role does European, national and regional cultural policy play in
the production of heritage films and how do filmmakers negotiate such
policy?
- How are heritage films consumed across and beyond Europe? Who is their
audience? What are the mechanisms of their consumption and how do these
mechanisms map onto those of the wider heritage industry?
- How do heritage films extend, or delimit, the possibilities of historical
representation? How do their various modes of emotional engagement with
history underline, or reflect tensions in, the aims of the heritage
industry as a whole?
Confirmed speakers:
Professor Ruth Barton, Trinity College Dublin
Professor Ib Bondebjerg, University of Copenhagen
Professor Paul Cooke, University of Leeds
Professor Andrew Higson, The University of York
Dr Kate Ince, University of Birmingham
Dr Claire Monk, De Montfort University, Leicester
Professor Rob Stone, University of Birmingham
Dr Belén Vidal, King's College London
Professor Eckart Voigts-Virchow, University of Siegen
Please email abstracts of approximately 250 words by 15 June to
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In conjunction with this CFP, the project also wishes to announce the
launch of its website. Apart from providing further information about the
project, its research aims and network members, the website also offers a
growing number of resources on contemporary European heritage film. Latest
posts include an interview with Professor Ib Bondebjerg about heritage film
and cultural policy as well as a conversation with film producer Nick Wild
from the production company 360° Media. Visitors to the website will find
weekly updates and are invited to post comments.
http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/screeningeuropeanheritage/
Best wishes,
Axel Bangert
Dr Axel Bangert
Research Assistant
Screening European Heritage
University of Leeds
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