[Commlist] Alphaville Journal CFP reminder: Fostering Diversity On and Off Screen

*REMINDER – CFP: Fostering Diversity On and Off Screen*

Special issue - /Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media/

*Deadline for abstracts: Monday 14 September 2020*

Members of the Australian Screen production Education and Research 
Association (ASPERA) Research sub-committee invite submissions of full 
length (6000 word) research articles and short (2000 word) teaching 
focused articles for a special issue of /Alphaville/ that poses the 
question: what further measures can give rise to increased diversity 
both on screen and behind the camera?

In recent years, individuals and groups from inside and outside of 
academia have called for greater diversity on screen, resulting in 
campaigns such as #MeToo, #TimesUp, and # OscarsSoWhite. In particular, 
the gender imbalance that exists on screen and behind the camera has 
been a particular point of focus. 2015 figures from Australian national 
funding body, Screen Australia, revealed a gender imbalance in 
mainstream filmmaking, with women accounting for only 32% of producers, 
23% of writers and 16% of directors. Later that same year, Screen 
Australia announced their five-point, $5 million plan for Gender 
Matters, a suite of initiatives aimed at addressing this imbalance 
within the Australian screen industry. With comparable gender disparity 
figures also evident outside of Australia, similar initiatives have been 
implemented in other territories, such as the Swedish Film Institute’s 
FiftyFifty by 2020 initiative (2012), the British Film Institute’s Three 
Ticks initiative (2015) and the Irish Film Board’s suite of measures in 
2017.

The issue of gender imbalance on/off screen has recently been explored 
further by Screen Australia, with recent research by Caris Bizzaca 
(2019) posing the question, ‘where does gender disparity in the 
Australian screen industry start?’ Bizzaca’s research involved the 
collection and analysis of data from four Australian film schools, which 
found that there are significant gender discrepancies within specific 
degree courses.

Other recent research has explored the gender imbalances of Australian 
key creative teams (Verhoeven, 2016), the gendered nature of media 
industries more broadly (see Media Industries volume 6, issue 1, 
2019; Feminist Media Studies volume 18, issue 3, 2018) and the specifics 
of diversity on screen in feature film form (see New York Film Academy, 
2017; Verhoeven, 2018).

Further to the research cited above, the research sub-committee of the 
Australian Screen Production Education & Research Association (ASPERA) 
proposes a special issue of Alphaville that looks forward, posing the 
question: what further measures can give rise to increased diversity 
both on screen and behind the camera? To this end, we invite full length 
articles (6000 words) that explore the challenges associated with 
fostering diversity on and off screen, and that make suggestions for new 
approaches in the screen production classroom, on set and in regards to 
the screen industries more broadly. In addition to work addressing 
gender imbalances, we welcome an exploration of intersectionality, 
recognising the complex ways in which the effects of varying forms of 
discrimination intersect, converge or overlap.

Subjects of research may include:

  * Studies and/or evaluations of funding body initiatives aimed to
    increase diversity
  * Case studies from the screen industries – e.g- film productions
    and/or screenplays which have demonstrated a commitment to increased
    diversity on screen
  * Gendered diversity on screen- a consideration of intersectional
    factors such as ethnicity, disability, age or class
  * Case studies from educational settings – how to improve diversity
    on/off screen in student work
  * Empirical studies of educational practices regarding screen diversity
  * Practice-based approaches to pedagogies of diversity in/out of the
    classroom
We also invite short articles that explore teaching methods for a 
dossier on classroom practices designed to foster diversity (2000 words).

It is hoped that the special issue will present research that suggests a 
way forward for practitioners, educators and members of the broader 
screen industries from all over the globe.

Please note that both the full-length articles and the shorter articles 
on teaching methods will be peer-reviewed.

In the first instance, please send *a 200-word abstract and a 100-word 
biography to (rsc /at/ aspera.org.au) <mailto:(rsc /at/ aspera.org.au)> by Monday 14 
September 2020*.

These abstracts will be reviewed by the editors, and responses will be 
issued by December 2020. Drafts of full papers will be due in June 2021, 
with amendments to follow. Publication of the Special Issue will occur 
in late 2022.

No APCs required

________________________
/Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media/
International, open access, peer reviewed
www.alphavillejournal.com <http://www.alphavillejournal.com/>

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