[Commlist] Call for Proposals: Frictions - 9th Interactive Film and Media International Conference

IFM2027  •  CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Frictions


9th Interactive Film and Media International Conference

June 8–11, 2027  •  Online via Zoom


Submission deadline  •  Friday, January 15, 2027


Friction occurs when two entities interact and resist each other. 
Friction produces transformation and differentiation; it produces 
novelty. Energies transform: opening a squeaky door propagates an 
abrasive sound; a river’s flow rounds rocks and reshapes the landscape; 
two hands rub against each other to produce heat.

But what happens when more than one friction comes into play? What 
possibilities for thinking otherwise emerge when we turn to the plural, 
frictions? Rather than naming a general principle of physics, the plural 
foregrounds encounters that are multiple, uneven, and sometimes 
contradictory.

Frictions operate across bodies, technologies, infrastructures, and 
institutions; they activate new affective and cognitive registers, 
opening up new temporalities and scales of engagement. They may 
interrupt, stall, or irritate; they might provoke, generate, or change. 
Ultimately, they expose how interactions take place. Frictions reveal 
the politics of contact itself.

This year’s IFM conference invites scholars, researchers, artists, 
activists, filmmakers, and practitioners to explore frictions as sites 
of exchange, struggle, reconfiguration, and possibility. Rather than 
approaching interaction in terms of seamlessness, transparency, or 
optimization, this year’s conference asks what it means to attend to the 
resistances, interruptions, incompatibilities, and possibilities for 
contact that animate interactive media and its cultures. How 
intentionally can we bring frictions into design, ethics, or practice?

We welcome proposals that examine frictions among environments, 
histories, temporalities, and forms of knowledge; work that experiments 
with friction as a method, intentional design, aesthetic politics or 
mode of practice; and meditations on the ways interactive media can 
navigate, intervene, or change the rules of engagement in states of 
friction.


  Topics and approaches

Proposals may engage with, but are not limited to, the following 
constellations of frictions:

  *

    Discomfort, agitation; Serendipities, play;

  *

    Glitches, bugs, breakdowns

  *

    Resisting pervasive capture;

  *

    Ambiguity, opacity, uncertainty; Asynchrony

  *

    Vulnerabilities; Disruptions; Slowness, delay, drag

  *

    Entanglements; Polyphony, dissensus; Opacities, static

  *

    Miscommunication, misunderstandings, misalignments;

  *

    Fault lines, abrasions; Turbulence


  Conference information and contact

Website: IFM2027 International Conference 
<https://journals.library.torontomu.ca/index.php/InteractiveFilmMedia/IFM2027>

Email: (ifmjournal /at/ torontomu.ca) <mailto:(ifmjournal /at/ torontomu.ca)>  | 
(interactivefilmconference /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(interactivefilmconference /at/ gmail.com)>

Join the IFM mailing list <https://lnk.bio/ifmjournal>for deadline 
reminders and community news.


  Contributions and submission

We invite scholars and researchers, including faculty and doctoral 
students, from media, communication, film, digital studies, visual arts, 
and related disciplines, alongside filmmakers, artists, activists, VR 
and game designers, and media producers. Proposals addressing Frictions 
are encouraged; we also welcome topics relevant to the broader IFM 
community.


    Paper presentations

Submit a 350–500-word abstract outlining the argument, research 
objectives, theoretical framework, methodology, and hypotheses where 
applicable, together with a biography of approximately 150 words for 
each presenter.

Application form: IFM2027 Paper Presentation Proposal 
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/16cWR8KBYLJ0NfmcE879WYob3wlqMSNKw/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116983877392213949768&rtpof=true&sd=true>

Select the “conference paper abstract” section in the submission system.


    Research creation presentations

Submit a 500-word project description outlining the research objectives, 
theoretical framework, methodology, and key achievements; a statement of 
at least 200 words on its relation to the conference theme; and a 
biography of approximately 150 words for each presenter. Artist and 
collective projects are welcome.

Application form: IFM2027 Research Creation Presentation Proposal 
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s66vPO7AKRR8vTlA1hYS1ofxkNNcjnRx/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116983877392213949768&rtpof=true&sd=true>

Select the “research creation presentation” section in the submission 
system.


    New book presentations

Present a new book and participate in a session on its content and the 
writing and publishing journey. Submit a book description of no more 
than 500 words, a reflection on the publishing journey, a theme 
statement of at least 100 words, and a biography of approximately 150 
words for each presenter. Consult the form for eligibility and session 
details.

Application form: IFM2027 New Book Presentation Proposal 
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KGBJYoXDqpB6U5kCEvj6n8Y7pF3ZcI3e/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=116983877392213949768&rtpof=true&sd=true>. 


Select the “book presentation” section in the submission system.


Complete the appropriate form in English, save it as DOCX, and upload it 
through the IFM Journal submission system 
<https://journals.library.torontomu.ca/index.php/InteractiveFilmMedia/about/submissions>by 
Friday, January 15, 2027. Applicants will be notified by the end of 
February 2027.


  Free participation and inclusive access

There are no fees for presenting, attending the conference, or 
publishing in the IFM Journal. IFM is committed to an inclusive, 
equitable, and accessible environment, with attention to accessibility, 
gender parity, ethnic diversity, and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Read Our Commitments 
<https://journals.library.torontomu.ca/index.php/InteractiveFilmMedia/commitments>for 
details.


  Organizing and scientific committee

Hudson Moura, Chair  •  Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada

Heidi Rae Cooley  •  The University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Stefano Odorico  •  Technological University of the Shannon, Ireland

Dale Hudson  •  New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Leah Shafer  •  Hobart and William Smith Colleges, USA

Marta Fiolic  •  NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal

Il Sun Moon  •  Kingston University, UK

Logan Acton  •  The University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Sonali Sharma  •  Jamia Millia Islamia University, India



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