[ecrea] CFP - Straight to the Front Row: Investigating Contemporary Western Gay Cinema

*CFP:*

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*Straight to the Front Row: Investigating Contemporary Western Gay Cinema*

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*Conference to be held at the University of Northampton (UK)*

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*16/02/2019 – 17/02/2019*

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 From /Weekend/ (dir. Andrew Haigh, 2011) to /Call me By Your 
Name/ (dir. Luca Guadagnino, 2017), from/God’s Own Country/ (dir. 
Francis Lee, 2017) to /Moonlight/ (dir. Barry Jenkins, 2016) and /Love, 
Simon/ (dir. Greg Berlanti, 2018), contemporary Western gay cinema has 
endured a shift in both representational strategies and a boom in 
popularity within both mainstream and independent spheres, since 2010. 
Prior to 2010, there have been Western gay films that have been 
significant in either their representations or their popularity (ranging 
from New Queer Cinema to films such as /Brokeback Mountain/ [dir. Ang 
Lee, 2005]), however, Western gay films since 2010 have: gained (mass) 
attention within hegemonic spheres of success such as the Academy Awards 
and the BAFTAs, infiltrated a plethora of genres from the Teen (Young 
Adult) Film to the Erotic Thriller and Romantic Drama, adopted realist 
strategies to try and ‘represent a more visceral and complex experience 
that queers undergo in the modern world’ (Winterton 2017: 48), and some 
have begun to (further) investigate intersectionalities of age, class, 
race and sexuality.


This two-day conference aims to investigate both independent and 
mainstream Western gay cinema, and its many facets and iterations. Being 
an interdisciplinary event, we welcome contributions from postgraduate 
researchers, early career academics and established scholars, from Film, 
Media, and Cultural Studies more broadly. For the purpose of this 
conference, ‘contemporary’ connotes new and modern gay films, and 
therefore discussion and analysis should focus on films released since 
2010. Moreover, while what constitutes ‘Western cinema’ or the ‘Western 
world’ is a much-debated topic, by ‘Western’ we mean films that are 
produced and released in Europe and North America.


Our confirmed keynotes are:

  * Prof. Richard Dyer (King’s College London, UK)
  * Dr. Andrew Moor (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)

We welcome abstracts that centre on, but are not limited to the 
following in direct relation to contemporary Western gay cinema:

  * Representations of gay identity
  * Space, place, temporalities and time
  * Genre, ideology and iconography
  * Representations of sex and/or intimacy
  * Representations of love and/or romance
  * Stylistic and narrative techniques (representational strategies)
  * Analysis of critical and commercial reception of contemporary
    Western gay films
  * Gay audiences, fans and fandom
  * Intersectionality (age, race, class, gender, sexuality etc.)
  * The relationship between mainstream and independent gay filmmaking
    practices
  * The relationship between contemporary Western gay cinema more
    specifically, and contemporary ‘queer’ cinema more broadly
  * Contemporary Western gay films and their place in Queer Film Festivals

Please send abstracts of 250 – 300 words, with a supporting bio of no 
more than 100 words, to both *Connor Winterton 
*((Connor.Winterton /at/ mail.bcu.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(Connor.Winterton /at/ mail.bcu.ac.uk)>) and *Anthony Stepniak 
*((Anthony.Stepniak2 /at/ northampton.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(Anthony.Stepniak2 /at/ northampton.ac.uk)>).


*Abstract deadline: Monday 5^th  November 2018.*


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