Middle East Studies Caucus CFP: SCMS 2016 Conference Panel

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Society for Cinema and Media Studies
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Middle East Studies Caucus CFP: SCMS 2016 Conference Panel

Conference Venue & Dates: Atlanta, GA; March 30 - April 3

"Joint Ventures: Middle Eastern Cine-Media in Co-Production, Past and Present"

Irit Neidhardt, curator and founder of an agency specializing in the distribution of Middle East and North African films, has written, "Due to very high production costs, and a lack of funding in the region of origin, most of the financing for films from the Middle East is provided by European public funds." Examples she invokes include PARADISE NOW (Hany Abu Assad, 2005), CARAMEL (Nadine Labaki, 2007), and WALTZ WITH BASHIR (Ari Folman, 2008) - all of which have been produced and released over the last decade, with major festival premieres. This panel invites papers that explore currents of co-production and Middle Eastern cine-media, in both contemporary and historical formations. Papers may address topics that include, but are not limited to:

Transregional co-productions
Contemporary politics of co-financing
Co-production and popular cinema(s)
Co-production incentives and film policy
Co-production, language, and translation

Please send a title, brief bio note, abstract (up to 200 words), and bibliography to Middle East Studies Caucus co-chairs Sara Saljoughi (s.saljoughi@gmail.com) and Samhita Sunya (sunya.samhita@gmail.com) by August 10th. All submissions will receive responses by August 15th.