The Amsterdam Centre for Globalisation Studies (ACGS) organizes as part of its Reimagining the Global seminar series the lecture

Change Management: Globalisation and Cinematic Narratives of Post-Communism

by Prof. Dina Iordanova, Chair in Film Studies at the University of St Andrews

Thursday November 29, 16.30-18.00

Location: Room 101a, Nieuwe Doelenstraat 16-18

In this presentation Dina Iordanova explores aspects of globalisation as they play out in regard to the fall of communism and its aftermath. The post-utopian period that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, she argues, is the highlight of a globalized 20th century, even though the event seems to have been obliterated from the minds and hearts of people just over two decades later. As Amsterdam-based writer Dubravka Ugresic put it, ' a whole culture vanished before it managed to be properly re-evaluated.' Iordanova will be presenting material and insights from her current project, which explores the changing narratives of post-communism as they appear (and contradict each other) in mainstream social thought, in media and in film. Focusing mainly on cinematic representations of issues that are narrated and addressed differently in these spheres, the talk will cover diverse topics such as ideological confusion, economic uncertainty, trafficking, migrant labour, consumerism, and intra-generational relations. It draws on reference material from a variety of cinematic contexts that all tackle aspects of globalisation as it manifests itself in the post-communist world, from Russia to China, Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Prof Iordanova has published extensively on transnational cinema, global film industries, and film festivals, as well as on Eastern European and Balkan cinema. In her work, she investigates film history in its socio-historical and mediatic context, paying particular attention to issues of comparative critical analysis of cross-cultural representation, cultural sensibilities and diverse identities. Lately she pioneered research into international film festivals and the dynamics of global film circulation. She is active on the international speakers circuit, have been a distinguished visiting professor at Universities in the USA and across Europe and Asia, and  a recipient of multiple Rockefeller, Leverhulme and Carnegie Trust awards. Her work has been translated into twenty languages and has been adopted for teaching around the world.  See also www.dinaview.com

For more information, please contact the organiser Dr. Marijke de Valck [log in to unmask] 

See also www.acgs.uva.nl