Society for Cinema & Media Studies (SCMS) Conference
Boston, Massachusetts
March 21-25, 2012

Recent work in film history has deemphasized broad national frameworks for criticism and analysis, proposing instead studies that center on more localized interactions with films and with cinema culture at large. Richard Maltby, Daniel Biltereyst and Philippe Meers (2011) define this "new cinema history" as work that analyzes "the circulation and consumption of film and examines cinema as a site of social and cultural exchange."

Drawing from this conception of cinema as an inherently social experience, this panel will examine how the idea of community informs the creation, distribution, exhibition, preservation, and commemoration of films and film culture. Areas of film studies related to this topic include (but are certainly not limited to):
- Cinephilia and fan communities
- Spectatorship within communities
- Criticism and/as community
- Film festivals and communities of exhibition
- Technology as a tool for community building
- Filmmaking as community building
- Cinema, community, and identity
- Close readings of films that deal with the notion of community

Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a brief author bio to Colleen Kennedy-Karpat at cbkennedykarpat@gmail.com no later than August 1. Participants will be notified of acceptance no later than August 15. Panelists must have current SCMS membership to present at the conference.