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Apologies for cross posting -- deadline approaching on 1st Nov

CALL FOR PAPERS: British Women Documentary Filmmakers 1930-1955

Proposals are invited for a one-day symposium to be held at the London School of Economics on 5th April 2019.

As the work of filmmakers including Jill Craigie, Kay Mander and Marion Grierson testify, women
have played a significant part in the early decades of British documentary and informational
filmmaking. Women were a vital part of the war effort and this was apparent in the films made by the
Ministry of Information as well as newsreels, documentaries and dramas. Women also worked behind
the camera as directors, editors and scriptwriters on instructional and propaganda films. Yet much early
British documentary history on Grierson and the Documentary Movement tends to elide the ways in
which non-canonical works engage differently with questions of the nation, gender, class and identity
and the ways in which form and content are linked to context of production.
This one-day symposium seeks to deepen understanding of women’s creative presence in British
documentary filmmaking. Papers may explore individual films and filmmakers, as well as the
industrial, social and historical contexts in which they worked. While WWII has been foregrounded in
accounts of women’s participation in British film production, the day will consider a longer historical
period including the innovations in documentary of the 1930s and the changing industry of the post-war
period.

Topics and questions might include:
· Women working within informational filmmaking
· New approaches to women and non-fiction filmmaking in wartime and/or post-war period
· How do emerging accounts of women’s role in the industry reshape standard accounts of documentary?
· What can individual careers tell us about the obstacles and opportunities faced by women in the sector at different times within the period?
· Does the study of women’s participation in film problematize dominant conceptions of ‘talent’, creativity and authorship?
· The impact of distribution and reception on historical awareness of films by women
· How can wider histories of women’s work during World War inform studies of women’s labour in film?
· Feminist film historiographies and documentary film-making
· Emerging methodologies for constructing women’s film histories

Please email abstracts of 300-500 words, 3-5 keywords and up to 5 key references to:
[log in to unmask] Deadline for submissions is 17.00 on 1 November 2018.

We welcome proposals for presentations in audio-visual forms such as video essays, practice-led
submissions etc. Please note:
· The abstract should be in word format as an attachment with your Surname and Initials as the
file name and please make sure you put BWDF in the subject line.
· Please also include a 100 word bio.
· Please include your NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS AND INSTITUTION (if any) on the proposal/abstract itself.
· Any queries please contact: Kate Steward, [log in to unmask]

We will respond to submissions by 30th November 2018.

Click to view the Facebook event for the symposium<https://www.facebook.com/events/243869866277240/>

The symposium is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of the project, Jill Craigie: Film Pioneer, led by Lizzie Thynne (PI, University of Sussex), Yvonne Tasker (Co-I, University of East Anglia) and Sadie Wearing (Co-I, LSE). We anticipate producing a journal issue from selected papers.

Please share with your networks.

Thank you,
Jeanne

Jeanne K Firth
Events and Communications Team, Department of Gender Studies
PhD Candidate, Human Geography and the Environment
London School of Economics and Political Science
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