[Commlist] CfP International Conference "Contemporary Women's Cinema and Media"

We extended the deadline for abstract submission for the XXV 
International Conference of Film Studies /Contemporary Women's Cinema 
and Media: Aesthetics, Identities, and Imaginaries /(Roma Tre 
University, November 21-22) until *September 15.*

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XXV International Conference of Film Studies

November 21-22, 2019, Roma Tre University

Department of Philosophy, Communication and Performing Arts


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*CALL FOR PAPERS*

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*/Contemporary Women’s Cinema and Media: Aesthetics, Identities, and 
Imaginaries /*

XXV International Conference of Film Studies

//

Rome, November 21-22, 2019

Department of Philosophy, Communication, and Performing Arts

University of Roma Tre

/Confirmed keynote speakers:/

Kathleen McHugh (UCLA), Lingzhen Wang (Brown University)

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*EXTENDED DEADLINE: September 15*

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The interplay of global economic aspects, cultural and geopolitical 
positioning, and specific forms of aesthetic expression and imagination 
plays an increasingly important role in today’s audio-visual 
environment. The XXV International Conference of Film Studies, 
Contemporary Women’s Cinema and Media, aims to address the contemporary 
production of women’s cinema, with a spotlight on other audio-visual 
media such as television and the Internet.
The conference’s primary topic is female authorship: which aesthetic 
approaches, which imaginaries, and which identities do women express and 
produce? How do they tackle the relationship between individual and 
collective identities and between women and “reality”? Which features 
distinguish Italian and European film production from those in other 
geopolitical environments? Women’s cinema is, in fact, a globally 
established reality with specific characteristics in how it moves 
between local, global, domestic, and international contexts and imaginaries.
The study of female authorship has developed since the early 1970s, 
addressing both theoretical and historical perspectives, and has mainly 
focused on: 1) the subversive and counter-hegemonic gaze of women 
directors and spectators; 2) historical research on the role of 
professional and creative women in production, distribution, and 
movie-going activities; and 3) the relationship between female 
authorship and the production of new and transgressive imaginaries.
Contemporary perspectives saw further extension and offshoots along 
these lines, underlining the relationship between women’s gaze and the 
images they produce within all audio-visual forms, as well as production 
and movie-going activities. During the past twenty years or so, scholars 
have focused in particular on “minoritarian” groups both in relation to 
intersectional perspectives and to transnational dimensions, enhancing 
the interplay between female authorship and global and postcolonial 
dynamics.
Even though, historically speaking, women occupying leading positions in 
media industries have been rare, they have always played a fundamental 
creative role in approaching the most complex and problematic aspects of 
their experience through their narratives. The expression ‘women’s 
cinema and media’ is thus an ideological choice that focuses on the way 
in which female authors approach differences – of gender, race, class, 
age, sexual orientation, religion, etc. – during different phases – from 
production to writing, and from directing to distribution and cultural 
dissemination. Against this background, attention is focused on how the 
processes resulting from globalisation have shaped and continue to shape 
women’s experiences differently from men’s, as well as among women.

We suggest, in particular, the following topics:

• How women’s language, including those forms attributable to écriture 
féminine, changes in relation to geopolitical dynamics marked by 
globalisation and trans/national contexts. It will be useful to take 
into account not only experiences such as those found in Latin America, 
North Africa, and the Middle East, but also Asian and, in particular, 
Chinese productions. By comparing styles and imaginaries, one would hope 
to detect both the dominant trajectories within various national 
cinemas, as well as the recurrent interplay and trespasses brought about 
by ‘accented’, diasporic, transcultural, and other narrative forms.
• How Production Studies address the role of female professionals in top 
creative positions. Using quantitative and qualitative studies, we can 
analyse women’s experience in film and the audio-visual industry in 
general, including those realities in which diversity policies and other 
positive actions were taken to mitigate gender asymmetries in creative 
and high-level positions.
• The way in which contemporary festival circuits have created a network 
of ‘alternative’ distribution for women’s productions, beginning with 
festivals with a long history, such as the Festival International de 
Films de Femmes de Créteil, the Sundance Film Festival, the Toronto 
International Film Festival, the Seoul International Women’s Film 
Festival, and other case studies.
• Female authorship takes different forms. Besides the role of women 
directors, we would like to explore women’s contribution in other 
creative positions such as cinematography, editing, composing, etc.. 
Particular attention will be paid to screenwriters, who hold a relevant 
and special position in the contemporary creative landscape, also in 
Italy. Another aspect to consider is the interplay between female 
authorship and stardom/celebrity.
• How the psychoanalytic approach can be rearticulated to interpret 
contemporary women’s cinema and media, especially in relation to 
post-colonial dynamics.
• The relationship between authorship and ideological positioning. We 
would like to discuss how women’s creative practices position them as 
politically aware in the contemporary scenario, above all in relation to 
issues such as feminism and post-feminism, racial politics, the LGBTQIA+ 
community, neoliberalism, etc.. Fundamental in this context will be the 
contribution of queer theories and intersectionality, without ignoring 
the transformative impact the transnational feminist #metoo movement has 
had on the various settings where it intervened.
• The role of female authors and the production of the imaginary in 
non-cinematographic and serial narratives. In particular, TV serial 
narratives; experimental narratives produced for online distribution; 
narrations of the self and self-portraitures mixing traditional and 
experimental formal-linguistic aspects. This includes technological 
media such as gaming, in which female authorship is still considered 
controversial.
• The various forms of documentary, including the ‘cinema of the real’. 
Historically, documentary has been one of women’s privileged filmic 
genres. We are interested in the most intimate and personal forms, but 
also in political documentaries; documentary productions for the 
Internet as well as reportages for TV or other hegemonic media; 
found-footage films and films dealing with history, memory and the 
archive, etc.
• Experimental film and video especially made for or screened in 
museums; more generally, we are interested in the ways experimental film 
and video participate and are part of contemporary visual culture.

Proposals of 300-500 words should be sent to 
(roma3conference /at/ uniroma3.it), accompanied by 3-5 keywords, a brief bio, 
and contact information.

The *extended deadline*to present abstracts is *September 15, 2019*. 
Acceptance will be communicated by September 22.


Speakers’ fee: 50 Euros.

Presentations shall be 20 minutes in length. Talks can be in English or 
Italian.

Organisation: Department of Philosophy, Communication, and Performing 
Arts – University of Roma Tre
Conference Directors: Ilaria A. De Pascalis and Veronica Pravadelli
Scientific Committee: Leonardo De Franceschi, Stefania Parigi, Ivelise 
Perniola, Marta Perrotta

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