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italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies Call for Papers INVESTIGATION OF A FILMMAKER ABOVE SUSPICION THE CINEMA ART OF ELIO PETRI Submission Deadline: April 30, 2012 Italian writer/director Elio Petri (1929-1981) is of the cinematic era ofBertolucci, Pasolini, and Bellocchio. Although recognized by Italian filmscholars as one of the major figures of Italian cinema of the 60s and 70s,his work remains largely unknown outside Italy, where it has perhaps evenbeen “repressed by the cultural and televised programming and mostly by thecritical analysis of researchers and film critics,” as Felice Laudadio, Presidentof Cinecittà, asserts. To date, there are very few monographs on Petri in Italianand none in English. And in recent years, he seems largely forgotten evenin Italy, a fact that prompted the 2005 documentary Elio Petri: Appunti Su UnAutore. Petri’s films are polemical interrogations of social, religious, and politicalphenomena as well as acute analyses of moral, psychological, and existentialcrises. He is generally characterized as a political filmmaker. Even thoughit is accurate to characterize his work as politicized, ultimately that is areductive and limiting characterization. His films are also informed by a richand profound understanding of and engagement with literature, philosophy,and art, evident for instance in his adaptations of Sciascia’s novels, Miller’sThe American Clock (for the stage), and Sartre’s Dirty Hands (RAI), as wellas in his use of Pop and Abstract Art in The Tenth Victim, A Quiet Day in theCountry, and other films. Thus, a more comprehensive, complex, and extensive analysis of alldimensions of Petri’s cinematic art is imperative, from the thematic to theformal and beyond. To this end, Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics isseeking abstracts for a special issue devoted to Elio Petri in order to exploreand examine all aspects of his films and present a more manifold view ofthem and of Petri’s place in the history of Italian and world cinema. In-depth,critically minded interviews with Petri’s collaborators (Tonino Guerra, DanteFerretti, Ennio Morricone, etc.) as well as other notable cinema artists onPetri are also welcome. What are not invited are obeisant encomiums orany form of uncritical celebration. As in all the subjects it covers, Hyperion isseeking essays that explore the nature of art and of a specific art form throughthe critical examination of the work of one of the form’s most ambitious andinnovative practitioners. In the case of Petri, we are looking for essays thatexamine how Petri and his collaborators conceived or reconceived the verypurpose of film, how he and they gave film a vision, and a mission. Abstracts of up to 350 words should be sent by April 30, 2012, [log in to unmask] English, as the primary language of thepublication, is preferred. However, we also accept abstracts in Italian, German,and French and, once accepted, essays are welcome in the same languages.This project has the support of Paolo Petri, Elio Petri’s widow, and will featurecopious film stills and other Petri ephemera. http://www.nietzschecircle.com/Petri_CFP_Hyp_Mar_11.pdf ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join italian-studies YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave italian-studies to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/italian-studies.html