[ecrea] CFP - CHILD ACTORS/CHILD STARS: JUVENILE PERFORMANCE ON SCREEN

*Child Actors/Child Stars: Juvenile Performance on Screen*

*A conference co-hosted by the **Centre for Research in Media and 
Cultural Studies,** **University of Sunderland, and the School of Media, 
Film and Music, University of Sussex/./*

* *

*To be held at the David Puttnam Media Centre, University of Sunderland*

*8-9 September, 2011*

* *

This conference seeks to build on recent scholarly interest in screen 
performance by focusing on the contribution of child actors to the 
history of international film and television. From the popular child 
stars of Hollywood to the child actors working in popular television and 
the non-professional children ubiquitous throughout ‘world cinema,’ the 
child performer is a prominent figure across a diverse range of media. 
However, the child actor is rarely considered in discussions of screen 
performance or of the representation of childhood: this conference will 
be the first of its kind to be focused exclusively on the work of 
children in and for film and television. We welcome papers that discuss 
particular child stars and performers and/or particular performances by 
children, as well as papers that consider more general historical and 
theoretical questions related to the child actor’s presence on the 
screen and their position in film and television cultures and industries.

*Confirmed Keynote Speaker: *Dr. Karen Lury (University of Glasgow), 
author of /The Child in Film: Tears, Fears and Fairytales /(2010)./ /

*Confirmed Special Guest: *Jon Whiteley, the former child actor, will 
talk about his film career and his experiences making /Hunted /(Charles 
Crichton, 1952), / The Little Kidnappers /(Philip Leacock, 1953), / 
Moonfleet /(Fritz Lang, 1955) and /The Spanish Gardener /(Philip 
Leacock, 1956).

*(Further Speakers/Special Guests to be announced)*

The conference will comprise both traditional panels (consisting of 
papers of 20-25 minutes) and workshops (consisting of 10 minute long 
position papers that outline a key idea/theme/ argument or offer close 
analysis of a moment of child performance in film). Please clearly mark 
your submission ‘panel’ or ‘workshop’. We hope the conference will both 
represent existing scholarship and inspire and encourage further work, 
and so we welcome contributions that are speculative and experimental.  
We are interested in papers on the following topics but would also 
welcome proposals on other areas as well:

· the training and schooling of child actors; the craft and labour of 
the child actor; notions of agency and control;**

· different traditions of child acting and how child acting operates 
within different national/historical/cultural contexts and on the small 
(tv) as opposed to big screen (cinema);

· the critical reception of children’s performances/the child as actor.**

· the relationship between child acting and child stardom (e.g. the 
contribution that performance makes to the formation/articulation of 
child star identity; the notion of the child star as performer); the 
child actor’s transition to child star;

· the transition from child to adolescent (or adult) performer; 
adolescent performances in film and/or television;

· how child performance operates within the context of genre;

· the child’s voice as an aspect of performance; voice/body relations in 
child performance;

· the dynamics involved when children perform with adult actors/stars;

· the work of the child actor in children’s vs. non-children’s 
cinema/television;

· children performing with animals;

· ensemble child acting;

· the performative spaces in which children find scope to act;

· child acting during the silent vs. sound era;

· the notion of the child as performer in the animated film;

· collaborations between child actors and particular directors or stars;

· professional vs. non-professional child acting.

It is hoped that selected papers from the conference will be published 
in the form of an edited book collection. Please send abstracts (no more 
than 250 words) to our conference email address: 
(childactorsconference /at/ sunderland.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(childactorsconference /at/ sunderland.ac.uk)> by 15 April 2011. 
Pre-constituted panels of 3 speakers are welcome. Acceptance notices 
will be issued by 6 May 2011. Our conference website is available at 
http://childacting.wordpress.com/ and will be updated with registration 
and other details in the coming weeks.

Any general enquiries should be addressed to the conference 
co-organisers: Susan Smith ((drsusan.smith /at/ sunderland.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(drsusan.smith /at/ sunderland.ac.uk)>) and Michael Lawrence 
((michael.lawrence /at/ sussex.ac.uk) <mailto:(michael.lawrence /at/ sussex.ac.uk)>).


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