cfp.english.upenn.edu

POSTGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

THE EUROPEANNESS OF EUROPEAN CINEMA

Keynote Speaker: Thomas Elsaesser

Confirmed Plenary Speakers: Susan Hayward and Ginette Vincendeau

Studies in European cinema have often been focused on specific countries, genres or auteurs. However, there has been, since the 1990s, a renewed interest in European film as an entity with a significance beyond the sum of its parts. Promoted by the policies in support of the audiovisual industry set in motion by the Council of Europe and the European Union, this new interest led to an amplified debate on Europe and the cinema that is produced and consumed there.

Meanwhile, top of the theoretical agenda, the issue of identity has surfaced as the prime concern. As the framework shifts from national to transnational cinemas and concepts such as ‘hyphenated identity’ and ‘double occupancy’ gather strength, this conference seeks to explore the ongoing validity of Europe as a reference in film. Papers are welcomed on any aspect of how European identity might define itself through cinema, spanning issues of representation, industry and cultural policy. Areas of interest might include:

- pan-European production and distribution strategies;
- the label ‘Europe’ in film distribution and exhibition, including festival circuits;
- examples of films that engage with the idea of Europe;
- how particular national cinemas might simultaneously identify themselves as European;
- the issue of language, dubbing and subtitling;
- and how any of these questions might have shifted historically and with the advent of new European initiatives.

Please submit an abstract (max. 300 words), contact information and short bio (max. 100 words) to: europeanness@kcl.ac.uk