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Cinéma, Architecture et espace urbain dans les Balkans / Cinema, Architecture and Urban Space in the Balkans

Appel à propositions / Call for Papers

East European Film Bulletin -

East European Film Bulletin (Paris) – Special Issue on Cinema, Architecture and Urban Space in the Balkans”
Deadline for proposals (in English language): 15th of July 2022
Papers due: 1st of November 2022

Often unified by the concept of the “cinematic city”, different approaches in film studies tend to examine urban space through three main angles.
Films shot within the build environment may record – perhaps unwillingly its current dynamics, architecture and urban planning (city as
background), consciously use the representational value of specific places
for narrative purposes (as character) or directly comment on the
socio-political conditions and memories of a city (as subject). However, it
can be argued that most of these discussions eventually converge to a
double question: how does cinema reflect upon the past, present and
future of a city and how do films reinforce or contest narratives and myths and affect the collective urban experience.

Following our previous special issue on urban themes in Russian and
Soviet cinema, this year we turn our focus to the Balkans. Often described as the “other” of Europe, “insufficient European”, or a “specter haunting Western culture” (to use the Maria Todorova’s provocative description), the countries and people of the Balkan Peninsula more often than not are seen as a geographic and culturally unified unit of measurement, against which Europeans can prove their superiority. The fall of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent Balkan wars as well as breakup of Yugoslavia, led the newly formed Balkan states to assert distinct national identities, mainly structured around religion and language. The collective amnesia of a multiethnic past is however negated in everyday practices where cultural footprints proliferate (linguistic and culinary p.e.), the result of a century-long multicultural blend and the Ottoman presence in the region.

The special issue is intended to discuss Balkan urban space and
architecture through a cinematic perspective, and further explore
elements linking urban studies with film studies. We are particularly
interested in contributions discussing fiction films or documentaries
focused on specific urban spaces of the Balkans, significant
constructions, major cities or lesser-known towns and villages. We are
also interested in itinerary films that map the peninsula through their
passage from different built environments.
Suggested topics (non-exhaustive list):

Continuer la lecture de Cinéma, Architecture et espace urbain dans les Balkans / Cinema, Architecture and Urban Space in the Balkans

Experimental cinema/documentary, New Media, video art from the Balkans

Proposals: June 15 2022

Papers due: November 15 2022

In the late 1950s and 1960s, experimental cinema in the Balkans developed away from the mainstream despite occasional official support. Experimental cinema often originated in so- called amateur film, and flourished in numerous cinema clubs in all major cities of the former Yugoslavian federation. However, the cinema clubs were also part of the socialist project of spreading art to all layers of society. In the 1970s artistic activity and forms of provocation continued to be produced clandestinely despite the reinforcement of censorship of Marshal Tito’s regime. The “New Art Practice”, a generation of artists active in Yugoslavia in the late 1960s and the 1970s, practiced experimentation in art, turning the traditional studio to artist-run spaces, creating multimedia performances in the street, as well as experimental publications. The concept of “anti-films” thrived, especially supported by the Genre Experimental Film Festival (GEFF). With the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, cinematic practices branched out to a questioning of memory and identity, often through an ethno-anthropological gaze. In recent years, questions of ethnic identity remain relevant, but experimental cinema has expanded into diverse forms and subjects – gender, ecology, a return to folk mythology among others. Much of this has been approached through contemporary technological explorations of digitality or analogue media. As part of its 2022 Balkans focus, the East European Film Bulletin is preparing a special issue on experimental cinema, including experimental documentary, video and moving-image art and new media.

We are looking for essay-length contributions that should discuss current and past trends of these art forms in the Balkans (or of Balkan artists from abroad) and/or contributions that focus on the work(s) of a particular artist.

We are particularly interested in discussions on the work(s) of: Marina Abramović., Neša Paripović, Sanja Iveković, Dalibor Martinis, Maria Kourkouta, Marianna Christofide, Goran Trbuljak, Igor Toholj, Jurij Meden.

Publications should be in English. Proposals should be sent to editors@eefb.org Stylistic guidelines for essays published in our journal can be found here : https://eefb.org/contribute/

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