Small-Gauge Storytelling:
The Amateur Fiction Film
A One-Day Symposium
University of Liverpool, Wednesday the 9th of June 2010
This one-day event, hosted by the University of Liverpool, invites
papers exploring issues around the many meeting points between
amateur cinema and fictional film practice. For around fifty years,
roughly between the 1930s and the 1980s, cine-clubs and individuals
working within the framework of the organised amateur cine movement
created many remarkable fiction films. The works produced by these
usually part-time cinephiles developed in a range of directions, and
often exhibited very contradictory attitudes towards neighbouring
professional practice, symptomatic of the amateur mode of film
production, and very distinct senses of cultural value. Some of this
output has now been incorporated into archival film collections, but
often enjoys a marginal or at least uncertain status in comparison
with non-fiction materials, with more immediately 'preservative'
value. While recent years have certainly witnessed growth in
scholarly work around amateur cinema, this has often focused on
amateur non-fiction films, effectively ignoring the wealth of
fictional material produced by clubs and individuals over the years.
This day event aims to address the potential artistic, historical
and scholarly value of amateur fiction films from a range of
perspectives. Suggested themes include:
- Surveys of fictional sub-genres
- Micro-dramas; cameo films, sketch films
- Epic productions on a small budget
- Amateur acting/performance in the fiction film
- Cartooning and animation
- Competitions; Institute of Amateur Cinematographers, Ten Best &
regional variations
- Group fictional filmmaking in cine-clubs
- Discussions of exemplar amateur fiction films at selected archives
- Archival policy on amateur fiction films
- Screenwriting and amateur films
- Landscape and the amateur fiction film
- Technology and amateur fiction films
For enquires and further details please contact Dr. Ryan Shand
(<mailto:(r.shand /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)>(r.shand /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)), Dr. Les
Roberts
(<mailto:(les.roberts /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)>(les.roberts /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)) or
Dr. Ian Craven
(<mailto:(i.craven /at/ tfts.arts.gla.ac.uk)>(i.craven /at/ tfts.arts.gla.ac.uk)).
Please submit proposals for papers (300 words maximum) by e-mail to
<mailto:(cityinfilm /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)>(cityinfilm /at/ liverpool.ac.uk). We
also welcome proposals for film screenings of particular relevance
to the symposium.
Deadline for submission of abstracts: Friday 16th of April 2010
Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Mapping the City in Film: A Geohistorical Analysis,
University of Liverpool,
in partnership with the University of Glasgow
----------------
Dr Ryan Shand
Research Associate
Department of Communication and Media
University of Liverpool
Roxby Building
Liverpool, L69 7ZT
United Kingdom.
T: +44 (0)151 794 2631
F: +44 (0)151 794 2605
E: (r.shand /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)
<http://www.liv.ac.uk/lsa/cityinfilm/>http://www.liv.ac.uk/lsa/cityinfilm
