Paris on Film (NeMLA 2016; abstract due Oct. 5)
This panel seeks participants interested in exploring the many different ways that the City of Light has been captured in films from a variety of countries. With the possible exception of New York, no city has been used as a setting as frequently as a setting as has Paris. However, the French capital is unique in that it has been featured not only in French films but in films from around the world. This transnational element will be emphasized by the panel, a panel that seeks to explore the contradictions inherent in filming such a contradictory city. For example, how can a city be seen as both the birthplace of the modern while also being so frequently being filmed - particularly in terms of its bohemianism - in such a nostalgic light? Similarly, is its bohemianism challenging to the status quo, or is it - as so often in films set in Paris - something merely grown quaint with the passing of time? Speaking of challenge, do films featuring the city's often violent political history represent an attack on the system or is it an attempt to confine such revolutionary potential within the city's borders? Is Paris the capital of France, or is it a truly international city? In keeping with this question, how often do films set in Paris focus on the former and ignore the latter? How are new challenges - political, social, ethnic, religious, artistic - find their ways into Parisian films? Again, while French films will receive their due, this panel will stress the importance of films set in Paris but produced throughout the world. Please send questions to jackie.cameron@gmail.com; abstracts are due by Oct. 5 to the same address.