Call for Papers

Don't Look Now? British Cinema in the 1970s Conference

Wednesday 4th to Friday 6th July 2007 at the University of Exeter (UK)

In his book 'National Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and
Eighties' (1985), Alexander Walker suggested that "The first few years of
the 1970s brought home to British cinema and society just what bad times
lay ahead. Nothing seemed to be moving". In other words, if there was such
a thing as British cinema in the 1970s, nobody seemed to be looking. The
main aim of this conference on British cinema in the 1970s is to question
this widely-held view of the industry and filmmaking during this period.
As such the Don't Look Now? British cinema conference at the University of
Exeter will address questions such as: Why has this historical period in
British filmmaking been largely overlooked by critics and historians? What
lessons can be learned from studying the production, exhibition and
distribution of British films during the 1970s? What do the films that
were made in Britain and/or by British talent during this period tell us
about changes occurring to British film culture? How far was British film
culture in the 1970s suffering from a hangover following the successes of
the 1960s?

Papers are invited on (but are by no means limited to) the following topics:

# British film production, distribution and exhibition in the 1970s
# British film funding
# British Government film policy
# British cinema audiences in the 1970s
# British art cinema
# British popular cinema
# Unmade British films
# Relationships between British film and British television
# British cinema and globalization
# British dialogues with Hollywood and Europe
# Transnationalism
# Multiculturalism
# Representations of Britain on film in the 1970s
# The employment of locations
# Constructions of space and place
# The countryside and the city
# National and/or regional identity
# Heritage and cultural traditions
# British stars
# Genre

Proposals for panels are especially welcome

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Professor Sarah Street (University of Bristol, UK)
Professor Sue Harper (University of Portsmouth, UK)
Professor Duncan Petrie (University of Auckland, New Zealand)

Please submit a 300 word abstract by 1st February 2007 to

Dr Paul Newland
School of English
University of Exeter
The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture
Prince of Wales Road
Exeter
EX4 4PX

Or email a word document to P.Newland_at_ex.ac.uk

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Received on Sat May 27 2006 - 13:26:35 EDT