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[Commlist] Call for papers: Zero Hour? Reconstructing post-war Belgian cinema

Wed Apr 26 07:03:56 GMT 2023



After the devastation of World War II, Belgium embarked on a journey of rebuilding and reconstruction. The effort was aimed at upholding the image of a modern consumer society, as symbolized by the monumental Atomium at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. Despite this pursuit, Belgium was repeatedly shaken to its very foundations. Internal political and social turmoil such as the Royal Question, the Second School War, the Winter Strike of 1960-1961 as well as the independence of its colonies – Congo in 1960 and Ruanda-Urundi in 1962 – lay bare several lines of fracture in the country.

In film circles, both press and makers projected the need for reconstruction onto their own field of work. The war years had introduced their own dynamic under the German occupation, while the existent production was heavily disrupted after a steady succession of Belgian films had been initiated only in the mid-1930s. A national film production of any substance was yet to be created. Was now the time?

With the burgeoning consumer society in Belgium, its film culture also boomed. New film theatres opened all across the country, ticket sales skyrocketed to an all-time high, film clubs as well as the national film archive were on the rise, and festivals as well as film schools were being founded. Before the breakthrough of television, which was boosted by the 1958 World’s Fair, art documentaries had a heyday while there was also a revival of folkloristic cinema.

The symposium ‘Zero Hour?’ wants to bring together a multitude of perspectives – combining aesthetic, socio-economic as well as political approaches – to reflect on how Belgian film production and culture is constructed between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s, when selective government support systems for Dutch- and French-language films were introduced.

*Practical information
*

*Presentation proposals (in English, Dutch or French) should include the title of the presentation, a 300-word abstract and a short bio. The deadline for abstracts is 15 June 2023. Notifications will be made by 7 July 2023. Please send your proposal to **(bjorn.gabriels /at/ uantwerpen.be)**.
*

The two-day symposium will be held in Hoek38, Brussels, on 21 and 22 February 2024. Presentations (in English, Dutch, or French) will be between 30 and 50 minutes, including the screening of films (or film fragments) if so desired. There is no fee for speakers and catering will be provided.

Following the symposium, our aim is to invite authors of selected papers to contribute their work to an edited volume on this subject with an internationally renowned academic publisher or a special issue of a peer-reviewed academic journal.

*Organizers
*

This symposium is organized by Gertjan Willems (University of Antwerp/Ghent University), Bénédicte Rochet (University of Namur) and Bjorn Gabriels (University of Antwerp/University of Namur). It is part of the FWO-funded research project ‘Screening Multiple Identities. National, subnational and transnational discourses in post-war Belgian cinema’.

/You can find more information on //the website of Zero Hour?/ <https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/conferences/zero-hour/>/.
/
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