Call for Articles
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"A Newsreel of Our Own": the culture and commerce of local filmed news
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Special issue of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
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Introduction
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Film historians have thoroughly documented how newsreel series, rooted =
in a longer tradition of episodic filmed news reports, or 'actualities,' =
emerged around 1908. It was the French company Path=E9 that defined the =
main characteristics of the genre by exporting its new product to =
smaller foreign territories or by creating similar indigenously produced =
newsreels in bigger markets such as Great Britain and the United States. =
Competitors soon copied the concept and launched rival newsreels. =
Newsreel production in the United States subsequently coalesced into =
five major series, each associated with a major motion picture company. =
As the American film industry gained international prominence and =
supplanted its French competitors at the head of the industry, so did =
American newsreels. In the interwar years (1918-1939), the United States =
acquired a dominant share of the international newsreel market, but =
France and Great Britain remained key producers and distributors.
The international history of the 'major' newsreels and their =
activities in free-market countries has been relatively well studied by =
film historians. There is also a growing corpus of literature on =
newsreel production and distribution in 'closed' markets that were =
controlled by authoritarian regimes: "No-Do" in Franco's Spain, "Luce" =
in Mussolini's Italy, "Die Deutsche Wochenschau" in Hitler's Germany, =
and several newsreels in the Soviet Union. However, there is a lack of =
comparative research on local producers' attempts to break the hegemony =
of international newsreel companies.
Many small countries without a national film industry or centralized =
newsreel production were worried about the creeping cultural and =
economic imperialism (particularly from the United States, Great =
Britain, and France) that foreign-made filmed news represented. =
Individual businessmen and organized interest groups (political parties, =
cultural organizations) therefore tried to create newsreels of their =
own, which were to 'emancipate' or 'enlighten' their own people. Most of =
these newsreels were produced without substantial government funding and =
therefore expensive, which made it easy for international companies to =
undersell them. In addition, local production companies typically did =
not have a large catalogues of feature films at their disposal, making =
it difficult or impossible to sell their newsreels as part of a larger =
distribution package. These conditions often doomed local newsreels to a =
short existence and has relegated them to footnotes in film history.
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Concept
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This thematic issue of the HJFRT will explore the history of =
locally-produced newsreels. The focus is on the initiatives of small =
companies, organizations and communities. State produced newsreels, =
funded or made obligatory by political regimes, will not be included. =
Submissions are welcomed on the commercial aspects (financing, =
production, and distribution) of local newsreels as well as on their =
structure and content. Of particular interest is the extent to which =
local newsreels did (or did not) model themselves after their =
international competitors. The substance of the newsreels is also of =
special interest, particularly the ways in which those newsreels tried =
(or not) to offer 'other' kinds of news. Also welcome are analyses on =
the political, social, and cultural discourses surrounding those =
newsreels.=20
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Submitting a proposal
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If you would like to be considered for inclusion in the issue, please =
send a short abstract by 4 April 2011, where you summarize your =
contribution. Please also include a short CV and a selected list of =
publications. The editors of this theme issue will get in touch with =
everyone before 4 May 2011 and invite some authors to submit a complete =
manuscript. Articles, ideally between 6000 and 8000 words (including =
notes and references), should be sent to the editors by 3 October 2011. =
Accepted and revised contributions will be due by 6 February 2012, with =
the issue scheduled to appear in the second half of 2012.=20
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Please send your proposals to Daniel Biltereyst =
((daniel.biltereyst /at/ ugent.be)), to Brett Bowles ((bbowles /at/ albany.edu)) and =
to Roel Vande Winkel ((roel.vandewinkel /at/ ua.ac.be)).=20
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Daniel Biltereyst is Professor of Film Studies at the Ghent University, =
where he leads the Centre for Cinema and Media Studies (CIMS, =
www.cims.ugent.be). He has published in international journals and =
readers, and is the co-editor of The New Cinema History (with Richard =
Maltby and Philippe Meers, Blackwell, 2011).=20
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Brett Bowles is Associate Professor of French Studies at the University =
of New York, Albany, and North American book review editor for the =
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. He has written widely =
on French and German newsreels during the Second World War, as well as =
the use of wartime newsreel clips in retrospective documentaries about =
the war.
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Roel Vande Winkel is Assistant Professor at the University of Antwerp =
and at the Sint Lukas Brussels University College. He is the European =
book review editor for the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and =
Television and the author/editor of various publications on newsreels =
and on film history, including Cinema and the Swastika: the =
International Expansion of Third Reich Cinema (with David Welch, =
Palgrave 2011).
