[ecrea] Anti-Fascism on Film: CFP

Anti-Fascism on Film:

Thursday 20th February 2014


De Montfort University, Leicester

(Part of the University's Cultural Exchanges Week)


supported by the Media Discourse Group and the Meccsa Social Movements 
Network


Anti-Fascism has appeared as a consistent theme in cinematic and 
documentary form since the rise of fascist parties in the twenties and 
thirties. In the early period, anti-fascist themes in cinema were 
explicitly enunciated, with Nazi Germany serving as a particular target 
of critique, when the more liberal Hollywood producers and directors 
examined this new form of populist authoritarianism and its vicious 
assault on the pre-war social order (see for example, 'Mortal Storm' 1940).

Anti-Fascism is not, however, a straightforward proposition, as it is 
complicated by the use of state power against rival polities. During the 
Second World War, for example, the 'democracies' advanced their 
interests under the banner of national crusades against totalitarianism, 
a narrative that could be transferred from the fascist villain to a host 
of other post-war enemies.

As fascism manifests itself as a combination of reactionary, 
racist/anti-semitic, patriarchal, misogynistic, hysterical, criminal and 
nationalistic currents, the critique of this stance is presented with a 
variety of strategic opportunities. Therefore, the analysis of fascism 
itself varies from text to text: in many cases, it is based on a narrow 
conception of an 'illiberal' and ignorant force, eliding reference to 
the relationship between fascism and capitalism. Some movies, in 
addition, might be highly critical of fascism's attack on freedom of 
speech, but ignore the deeply misogynistic character of 
fascist/totalitarian regimes.

Those movies that show an awareness of the dilemmas and complexities 
involved in opposing fascist/authoritarian systems, regimes or parties 
(such as 'Land and Freedom' of 1995 or 'Pan's Labyrinth' of 2006), 
provide therefore a useful contrast to the more propagandistic fare 
evident within state-sponsored material, while the more subtle nuances 
evident within the work of pre and post-war exiles (including directors 
and writers who became the victims of McCarthyism) can be interpreted as 
the continuation of an anti-authoritarian agenda within a new context.

In essence, we are aware of the distinction between open and more subtle 
attacks on fascist activity, knowing for instance that the 
representation of Fascist behaviours is often a critique in itself, with 
the audience called upon to pass judgement on the conduct of the 
characters on screen. The distinction we would make is between forms of 
representation that are meant to provoke such a response, and those that 
seem to celebrate the fascist ethos, or present it in a 'neutral' 
fashion, or just dwell on the spectacle of fascist iconography.

We are interested in obtaining the widest range of papers, written from 
a variety of 
anti-fascist/anti-racist/anti-totalitarian/feminist/socialist 
perspectives, which address the issue of Anti-Fascism on Film. This 
material can be drawn from documentary, televisual, online or cinematic 
sources, with the proviso that we are not prepared to examine the 
textual productions of fascist and/or Nazi adherents, however 
unsympathetically they might be framed by academics, and are less than 
enthusiastic about fictional material that seems to relish the 
representation of fascist atrocity. Our emphasis is on, therefore, 
anti-fascist perspectives as well as on the textual evidence of 
anti-fascist discourse. In a nutshell, the 'Triumph of the Will' won't 
be screened, and stuff on Nazi Vampires on Speed might not make the 
shortlist. We would ask if possible for contributors to use embedded 
clips (or at least MP4 files on the desktop) in what will be 
twenty-minute presentations. Searching through DVDs will not be possible.

Topics might include:
Anti-Fascism and Revolution in (representations of) the Spanish Civil War
Representations of Nazi Persecution: the Holocaust
Contemporary Documentary productions and the critique of fascism
Inter-State Rivalry and Anti-Fascist Propaganda
Personal Testimony and Memory on Screen
Anti-Fascist Cinema and Activism
Anti-Nazi Texts and Hollywood
Resistance Movements in Europe
Gender, Identity and the Anti-Fascist
TV documentaries, anti-fascism and the Second World War
Contemporary representations of anti-fascism on You Tube
National Identities and anti-fascist activity (the Greek and French 
cases, for example)
News and the representation of anti-fascism

Please submit your paper title, together with a 150/200 word abstract, 
your name, title and institutional affiliation (if any) to (sprice /at/ dmu.ac.uk)

DEADLINE: Friday 20th DECEMBER 2013



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