[Commlist] CFP: Re-Sensitising the Image in the Postdigital Age

CALL FOR PAPERS

RE-SENSITISING THE IMAGE IN THE POSTDIGITAL AGE
International film and media studies conference
26-27 November 2026

Organized by: SAPIENTIA HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OF TRANSYLVANIA, CENTRE FOR 
CINEMATIC INTERMEDIALITY AND VISUAL CULTURE, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Deadline: 12 July 2026
In our current postdigital condition, digital technology is so deeply 
embedded in everyday life that the distinction between technical and 
natural is becoming increasingly blurred and images have become mere 
byproducts of our embodied co-existence with digital media. At the same 
time, we see that visual forms are continuously rendered obsolete by the 
rapidly evolving algorithmic processes. In new media, we are no longer 
even looking at “the image” any more, but rather always only at a 
version of an image that can be infinitely modified. Cameras are 
regularly used to connect the eye and the machine in a way that serves 
no aesthetic goal, creating purely “operational images” (Harun Farocki). 
Furthermore, the vast majority of the images that we see today strike us 
not only as ephemeral or as disposable “content” fracturing our 
attention and inviting us to scroll through on our digital devices, they 
are, in the words of Hito Steyerl, “upgraded to data performance events 
[…] rendering warfare, marketing and surveillance as variations on the 
same spectrum”. Their relentless multiplication and ubiquity induce 
exhaustion, indifference, and the numbness of the senses. Our 
interactions with the constant flow of visual “content” disconnects us 
from the world and from ourselves. Nevertheless, in a more optimistic 
tone, Lev Manovich insists that contemporary society operates within 
flexible and varied attention regimes, rather than having its attention 
uniformly destroyed by technology. Contemporary cinema often reflects on 
this postdigital condition and invites us to get in touch with our 
humanity and the everyday reality around us. The persistence of “slow 
cinema” or experimental documentary practices, along with all kinds of 
sensuous moving image installations challenges us to become not just 
“pensive” (Raymond Bellour, Laura Mulvey), but also sensitive and 
engaged spectators. This year’s Venice Biennale titled In Minor Keys 
focuses on emotional, sensory, and subjective art that highlights 
intimacy, interconnectedness, and indigenous knowledge as a form of 
“quiet resistance” to the accelerated, dehumanizing productivity of 
digital capitalism.  In light of all this, we would like to ask: How can 
cinematic images facilitate shifting between various modes of focus? And 
how can cinema/moving image art reclaim the image as a unique, sensuous, 
affective visual experience and object of contemplation? In this 
conference, we aim to explore such issues in the context of contemporary 
moving images and invite you to join us in friendly discussions on this 
topic. We welcome presentations that address any of the following 
questions or that propose further intriguing perspectives within this 
general field of inquiry: •	What kind of visual and intermedial 
strategies are effective in creating impactful cinematic images 
fostering not disengagement but sensitivity and empathy in a world that 
is in constant turmoil and riddled with crises?
•	How does contemporary experimental art revitalise the perception of 
imageness, and reinstate “the image as raw, material presence” (Jacques 
Rancière)?
•	How does immersion into mood and into a synaesthetically sensuous 
environment interact with reflexivity within slow cinema? •	Can the 
image be not only dissolved but restored through “the aesthetics of 
atmospheres” (Gernot Böhme, Giuliana Bruno, Tonino Griffero) in cinema, 
video installation art, and artistic video games?
•	Can image-conscious “elemental cinema” (Tiago de Luca) bring us closer 
to contemplating physical reality, and increase our awareness of a 
more-than-human world?
•	How does cinema rely not on the visible but on the imagined image?
•	How can the sensuous cinematic image connect us to what cannot be 
seen? •	How can moving image art critically engage with key issues of 
contemporary visual culture, including the uncanny and desensitizing 
effects of AI generated imagery?
•	How does analogue nostalgia bring into focus the image in the 
postdigital age?
•	How does contemporary documentary reinvent itself on the new 
“groundless ground of hybridity” (Erika Balsom)?
•	How do films address the phenomenon of “digital lethargy” (Tung-Hui 
Hu), a refusal to participate in the “attention economy” generated by 
digital capitalism and mass media?
•	How can social re-sensitising be achieved with interdisciplinary 
projects at universities, films in education, and in professional training?

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
ERIKA BALSOM, Reader in Film and Media Studies, King’s College London, 
UK (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/erika-balsom)
TIAGO DE LUCA, Reader in Film Studies, University of Warwick, UK 
(https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/scapvc/film/staff/deluca/)

We plan this as a stimulating and mainly in-person event, therefore we 
encourage you to come and join us in the debates. Nevertheless, in case 
you cannot come, we will accept a limited number (up to 20%) of online 
presentations (in mixed panels).

The official language of the conference is English. The time for 
presentations is 20 minutes, followed by a 10-minute debate.

We plan to publish a selection of papers based on the presentations in 
our international, peer-reviewed journal, Acta Universitatis Sapientiae. 
Film and Media Studies (https://link.springer.com/journal/44428), 
indexed in several international databases (e.g. Web of Science Core 
Collection: Emerging Sources Citation Index, ERIH Plus).
We accept proposals for individual presentations and especially welcome 
proposals of panels presenting the work of a research project/centre or 
friendly group (consisting of 3 papers).

SUBMISSION
Please send your proposals by filling in one of these forms:
SUBMISSION OF INDIVIDUAL PROPOSALS: https://forms.gle/gdvxRgKtT4MVYW877
SUBMISSION OF PANEL PROPOSALS: https://forms.gle/3LznQCff72v6815U8

Deadline: 12 July 2026. We will notify you about our decisions regarding 
the proposals by: 20 July 2026. (However, you are welcome to request an 
earlier reply if you submit earlier than the final deadline and need it 
in order to apply for funding at your university.)

In case you have any additional questions, contact us at: 
(sapientia.filmconference /at/ gmail.com)

REGISTRATION INFO: to follow shortly on the conference website:
http://film.sapientia.ro/en/conferences/re-sensitising-the-image-in-the-postdigital-age

We hope that this will be a lively conference with exciting discussions, 
and therefore we would appreciate if you could circulate this call among 
colleagues who might be interested in this topic. We are looking forward 
to your submission and participation.

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