CALL FOR PAPERS:

Papers are invited for submission for a panel on Representing Black Europe in
Cinema at the upcoming Modern Language Association (North East) conference in
Philadelphia, March 2-5, 2006. This panel will explore the Black American
presence in European cinema and Black Europeans in film, contrasting the
representation of the American expatriate experience with the representation of
Black communities in Europe.

British filmmaker Reece Auguiste describes Black British filmmaking as existing
"in Black America's shadow." How has the influence of this "shadow" of Black
American film culture impacted European film? How are American racial tensions
portrayed in European films? How do the racial anxieties of a given European
country become displaced onto the Black American figures? What are the social,
political and industrial conditions that have led to the transatlantic
migration of Black artists?

Along with the importance of Black American expatriate filmmaking, how is
multicultural Europe represented in contemporary films? Is race "erased"? If
so, what is the nature of this erasure? Does the representation of the Black
figure in European cinema take on symbolic weight even when race is secondary
to the narrative? How does race function in films dealing with the reality of
living in a Europe commonly coded as white?

Papers are welcome that address individual directors, films, actors, genres or
nations of production. Comparative, historical and theoretical approaches are
also welcome.

Please submit proposals (max. 500 words) and a short biographical note or 1-page
CV by email to Allyson Field, Harvard University, afield_at_fas.harvard.edu, no
later than September 15, 2005.

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Received on Mon Jun 20 2005 - 10:46:48 EDT