ReFocus: The Films of Gerard Damiano

After discussion with Edinburgh University Press, editor Calum Waddell (University of Aberdeen) is initiating a call for papers regarding the work of the filmmaker Gerard Damiano. Inspiring both discussions about, and legal action on, American laws regarding 'obscenity', as well as the debate of ‘pornography' vs 'art' (see, for instance, Blumenthal’s famous and influential article, ‘Porno Chic’, in The New York Times on 21st Jan 1973), Damiano would briefly have the major studios revising their approach to depictions of sex and sexuality. While Damiano's landmark Deep Throat (1972) proved seismic in terms of its impact and remains controversial due to the tragic experiences and life of its star Linda “Lovelace” Boreman, it was with The Devil in Miss Jones (1973) that the filmmaker seemed to threaten the mainstream. Becoming one of the ten highest grossing American releases of its year and spoken about by highbrow critics in the same breath as Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris (1972), Devil pointed towards a major new voice in adult-orientated film.

While Damiano struggled to maintain such success in the face of changing censorship horizons, follow-up endeavors like the Hitchcockian Memories Within Miss Aggie (1974) and the widescreen Story of Joanna (1975) remain as standouts from this short period in which adult cinema attracted a genuine cult of attention. Moreover, before Peter Jackson’s own X-rated marionette show Meet the Feebles (1989), Damiano led the way with his surreal Let My Puppets Come (1976). Inspiring cinematic portrayals in Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1998) and Lovelace (Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, 2013), Damiano remains a figure of interest for his presence at a time when the new “Hollywood” struggled with how to adapt to the “X” rating.

This edited collection is eager to give a broad overview of Damiano’s work as director, particularly in the 1970s, offering a study that places the filmmaker in an academic perspective. However, we would also be interested in chapters acknowledging his depiction in the mentioned Hollywood films, and even how his work may have inspired later attempts to accomplish box office by way of provocation and titillation.

Suggestions for chapter submissions might include, but at not limited to:

· Analysis of individual films

· Damiano’s depiction in films such as Boogie Nights and Lovelace

· Representation of women in Damiano’s directorial work

· Representations of queer identity in Damiano’s output

· Censorship debates

· Damiano and the horror film

· Damiano and Linda Lovelace

· Pornography and “art” debates

· Damiano and his films in an international context

· Damiano and industrial histories/analysis of the adult film industry

· Any suggested topic of your choice

The editor is particularly interested in finding as much diversity for this volume as possible, and thus strongly encourages submission from marginalized and minority voices/scholars outside of film studies to this collection. Please send your 250-350 word proposal and a 100-word bio or complete CV to Calum Waddell at calum.waddell@abdn.ac.uk