[Commlist] CFP: Screen Stars Dictionary "Aging & Stardom" Tecmerin. Journal of Audiovisual Essay

The Screen Stars Dictionary 
<https://tecmerin.uc3m.es/project/screen-stars-dictionary/?lang=en>, in 
collaboration with Barbara Zecchi, invites videographic submissions for 
a special edition entitled “Stardom and Aging: Between Dust and 
Stardust” dedicated to exploring the challenges of growing older in 
front of a camera. Stardom demands that actors, especially women actors, 
defy the passage of time. As they age, indefinitely maintaining 
brilliance proves elusive; the prevailing norm for silvering stars is a 
gradual dimming—some fade slowly, while others vanish abruptly like 
shooting stars. The increasing pressure to embody eternal youth propels 
many actors into a constricted pathway of "successful aging," often 
through interventions such as cosmetic surgery. Conversely, a select 
few—frequently those unencumbered by traditional notions of glamour (as 
illustrated in Asier Gil’s work on Carmen Machi)—manage to challenge the 
dominant anti-aging narrative and embrace their age, subverting what 
Woodworth calls “the youthful structure of the gaze”. Are these 
expectations universal, or specific to Hollywood’s neoliberal pressures? 
Do other film cultures enable actors to age affirmatively?

“Stardom and Aging: Between Dust and Stardust” seeks to explore the 
multifaceted experiences of aging actors, from silvering stars who 
embrace their bright journey to eternity, to those who dim quietly into 
plastic surgery and/or obscurity. We welcome video essays that engage 
with these themes from a variety of scholarly perspectives, encompassing 
all periods of film and television history.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal, send an email with your 
idea to Barbara Zecchi ((bzecchi /at/ umass.edu) <mailto:(bzecchi /at/ umass.edu)>), 
Ariel Avissar ((arielavissar24 /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(arielavissar24 /at/ gmail.com)>) and Vicente Rodríguez Ortega 
((vrortega /at/ hum.uc3m.es) <mailto:(vrortega /at/ hum.uc3m.es)>), the collection’s 
editors.

This will be the process (similar to the typical Screen Stars Dictionary 
process):

1. Send us a first draft of your video no later than *May 2^nd , 2025*; 
your video should attempt to capture the defining characteristics of a 
particular film or TV older actor, from any nationality, using a single 
word, combining diverse definitions of this word with a single or 
multiple clips of the featured star. Videos should ideally be no longer 
than four minutes, and can be in any language, with English and/or 
Spanish subtitles

2. Barbara, Ariel and Vicente will give you feedback.

3. Send revisions and receive feedback until accepted, via google drive 
or wetransfer (file size should be under 500MB).

4. Once accepted, we will send you a short video intro to add at the 
beginning of your piece; additionally, the video credits should include 
all media sources used in the video, and the source(s) of the dictionary 
definitions used.

5. Once you add the intro and credits, submit the final video. It will 
be uploaded to /Tecmerin/’s Vimeo account and published 
in<https://vimeo.com/showcase/10404168>the Screen Stars Dictionary Vimeo 
collection <https://vimeo.com/showcase/10404168>.

6. Barbara, Ariel and Vicente will curate a selection out of the videos 
added to the collection, which will be scheduled for publication on 
/Tecmerin /in *2025*.


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