Contemporary European audiovisual production – film, television as well as online videos – engages with history in a variety of ways. This conference will focus on emerging perspectives that capture ongoing developments across Europe. We aim to bring together scholars within disciplines such as Film and Television studies, European studies as well as History and Memory studies in order to chart key trends, methods and theories against a background of changing institutional and industrial contexts that determine the production and circulation of audiovisual works on historical themes.
We are calling for papers that explore European productions of the past two decades along the following thematic and methodological strands.
New screen biopics
The past years have seen a vivid output of film and television series exploring biographies of historical figures. A number of these works cater to nostalgic longing for particular individual and national pasts, whereas others revise received histories and address issues relevant for people across Europe today. What stories do these biographed lives facilitate, and what memories and values do they evoke and strengthen?
Untold stories of war, conflict and trauma
How do screen works look at the ways histories of conflict have shaped stories and identities that have previously been forgotten, marginalized or excluded? What are their means for doing so and in what contexts are they produced and received? How do these works reflect current conflicts and tensions?
Televised history and transnational audiences
National public service broadcasters, international television groups and global streaming services are investing in high-quality historical fictions and documentaries. Many of them attract large audiences on a national level, but they are also increasingly aiming for international markets. What representations of history do these new developments afford and invite us to share across borders?
Archives and cultural memory
Audiovisual archives play a fundamental role for history film and television. They allow filmmakers and history advisers access to knowledge and original material. Footage can be located and later remediated in new productions – adding authenticity, cuing audiences to recall past events, and so on. Under what conditions do archives operate and how can they, in an era of digital curating and access, facilitate intergenerational and transnational memories?
Call for papers
We welcome submissions exploring any of these areas, while also acknowledging that papers may rewardingly address more than one of them.
Please submit your abstract (max 300 words) along with key references, institutional affiliation and a short bio (max 150 words), to the conference organizers:
Anders Marklund (Film Studies, Lund University), anders.marklund@litt.lu.se
Sanimir Resic (European Studies, Lund University), sanimir.resic@slav.lu.se
Submission deadline: 15 December 2019.
Proposal acceptance notification: 15 January 2020.
Website: cstonline.nethistoricalfilmandtelevision.files.wordpress.com
