IAMHIST is an international organisation of scholars, filmmakers, broadcasters and archivists dedicated to historical inquiry into film, radio, TV and other media.

The study of film and media histories has long been dominated by western, often Eurocentric perspectives, in terms of content, theory and methodology. In previously colonised countries, colonial archiving projects have silenced historical accounts and profoundly altered postcolonial mediascapes. In some countries, cultures of censorship and neglect have resulted in lopsided, disintegrating or inaccessible public records. In recent years, there have been calls for an epistemological re-examination of sources, methods, and practices – to de-colonise and reimagine scholarship to include indigenous media histories as well as radical and reparative approaches to the past. In response, the 2025 IAMHIST conference seeks to shift, disrupt, and question existing scholarship by including previously excluded perspectives, histories, media, archives, practitioners and lenses. We invite proposals for papers, artists’ presentations and panel discussions on any of the following topics:

  • Re-examining colonial film and media histories
  • (Decomposing) colonial media representations
  • Colonial archiving practices
  • Archival migration and repatriation in the colonies
  • Archival ownership, financing and access
  • Decolonial perspectives on film and media history
  • Indigenous media practices, past and present
  • The history of media cultures in the Global South
  • The communication practices of liberation movements
  • Reparative media/the media and reparations
  • Decolonising media archives
  • Post-colonial media and film
  • The restitution of audiovisual/immaterial archives and heritage media
  • The archiving of indigenous communities, liberation movements and post-colonial practices (as colonial archives often only represent the perspective of the coloniser it is important to build/value/find archives that represent indigenous perspectives)
  • The politics of archival financing
  • Diasporic communication histories
  • Digital engagements with archives (adaptation, manipulation, restoration)
  • Contemporary reuse of archives

Individual paper proposals should consist of a title, an abstract of 200–300 words and a short biography (100 words). We especially welcome proposals from early-career researchers, archivists and practitioners. Panel proposals (of 3–4 papers) are also welcome; they need to be submitted by one individual presenter of the panel who must include the title of the panel and all abstracts and short bios. We also appreciate proposals for archival, artistic or multimedia/practice-based projects or workshops.

You are welcome to discuss their suitability with the conference organisers in advance of the deadline. You can send enquiries to IAMHIST2025@gmail.com.

Conference attendees are expected to be members of IAMHIST. Information about IAMHIST membership can be found here: http://iamhist.net/membership/. There will also be an opportunity to join at the time of registration.

The conference is co-organised by IAMHIST and the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

The deadline for submissions is 20 December. Please submit your proposals here: cstonline.netforms.gle/J5Hntu2gftoQHong6

Full call: cstonline.netiamhist.net/category/iamhist-conference-2025/