Call for Chapters

ReFocus: The Films of Gaspar Noé

Edited by Florian Zappe

Edinburgh University Press ReFocus: The International Directors Series
Series Editors: Gary D. Rhodes, Robert Singer, Stefanie Van de Peer, Nuno Barradas Jorge

Over the course of his career, Gaspar Noé has established himself as one of the most discussed filmmakers in contemporary international cinema. Born in Buenos Aires and based in France, Noé first attracted attention with the short film Carne (1991) and his first feature Seul contre tous/I Stand Alone (1998), before reaching a wider international audience with Irréversible (2002). His later films, including Enter the Void (2009), Love (2015), Climax (2018), Lux Æterna (2019) and Vortex (2021), have circulated widely through international festivals and the institutions of contemporary art cinema.

Because of their direct and explicit treatment of violence and sexuality, Noé’s films have often been met with scandal and controversy, and have frequently been discussed under headings such as “New French Extremity” or “le cinéma du corps.” While these contexts remain important, their focus on the transgressive and sensational aspects of his films does not exhaust the complexity of his work. This proposed volume for Edinburgh University Press’s ReFocus: The International Directors series seeks to reassess and expand the critical conversation around Noé’s cinema by foregrounding its aesthetic innovations, experimental narrative strategies, and under-explored themes. The collection will consider his feature films alongside his short films, music videos, collaborative projects, and commissioned works, offering a comprehensive, interdisciplinary survey of his career.

In order to ensure a broad range of perspectives on Noé’s work, scholars of film studies and related fields such as media studies, cultural studies, French studies, sound studies, performance studies, philosophy and other relevant disciplines are invited to submit chapter proposals that engage with Noé’s work from various methodological, theoretical, historical, or philosophical angles. Contributions may concern, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Analyses of individual films directed by Noé, such as Carne (1991), Seul contre tous/I Stand Alone (1998), Irréversible (2002), Enter the Void (2009), Love (2015), Climax (2018), Lux Æterna (2019) or Vortex (2021)

• Noé’s formal innovations in camera movement, duration, colour, sound, point of view, choreography and cinematic time

• Narrative strategies in Noé’s cinema, including reversal, circularity, simultaneity, memory and fragmented duration

• Noé and the politique des auteurs

• Noé’s cinephilia, borrowings and dialogue with film history

• Collaborations with Lucile Hadžihalilović and the role of Les Cinémas de la Zone

• Noé’s short films, music videos (e.g. for artists such as Nick Cave, Placebo or Animal Collective) and commissioned work, including Sodomites, SIDA, the Saint Laurent projects and other non-feature work

• Art cinema and pornography in Love and Noé’s Destricted segment We Fuck Alone

• Intoxication, drug culture, club culture and altered states in Enter the Void and Climax

• Gender and sexuality in Noé’s films

• Class, politics, social resentment and milieu in Seul contre tous/I Stand Alone and other works

• Age, illness, family and care in Vortex

• Performance, casting and star images in Noé’s cinema

• Philosophical and religious questions in Noé’s films, including time, death, secularism, materialism, spirituality and belief

• Festival reception, criticism, censorship, distribution and canonisation

   

Please send your abstract (approx. 300 words), a short bio-bibliographical note and any potential queries to contact@florianzappe.xyz by Oct 1, 2026.