Over the last thirty odd-years, a growing number of film and TV productions have left the confines of Hollywood studios, either to benefit from interesting tax incentives or to find new scenery that can visually surprise audiences.

The popular success of some of those ‘runaway’ films or TV series then prompted many fans to walk in the footsteps of Luke Skywalker in Tunisia (Star Wars), of Frodo in New Zealand (Lord of the Rings), of Harry Potter and his friends in Great Britain, of Katniss Everdeen in North Carolina (Hunger Games), of Daenerys or Jon Snow in Ireland or Malta (Game of Thrones), thus significantly increasing the number of visitors to those places and countries.

Some of those tourists strongly wish to re-live on site what they saw on screen while others are simply curious to visit the filming locations.

Film-tourism is therefore a multi-layered experience as demonstrated by the many visitors at Warner Bros. studios. Leavesden (home to the Harry Potter franchise), the tourists taking part in the Da Vinci Code tours in Paris, the Game of Thrones packages launched by travel agencies, or the guided tours organized in Dunkirk in the aftermath of the shooting and release of Dunkirk (C. Nolan, 2017).

This day symposium therefore intends to study the relationship between tourism and location shooting, whether it be as the mere result of that shooting or as part of a growing number of local or national policies designed to attract productions (American or European) so as to benefit from them.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to the following: 

  • Tourism and films/film franchises
  • Tourism and television series
  • Tourism, soft power and local/national film location incentives
  • Tourism, films, series and remembrance (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, War Horse, Band of Brothers, etc.)

Please send an abstract (about 400 words), 3 key-words and a short bio before April 30, 2018 to both following addresses:

nathalie.dupont@univ-littoral.fr and raphael.eppreh-butet@univ-lille3.fr.

Organizing committee: Nathalie Dupont, Raphael Eppreh-Butet and Laëtitia Garcia