CFP: Auteurs in the 21st Century, Yale Film Studies Graduate Conference

[Raisa Sidenova]

Call for Papers:

Auteurs in the 21st Century
Fourth Annual Yale Film Studies Graduate Conference
April 6-7, 2012
Yale University, New Haven, CT

Is the concept of auteurism still valid for exploring filmmaking in the 21st
century? After its introduction by Cahiers du Cinéma in the 1950s, auteur
theory became both the predominant conceptual framework for scholarly analysis
of  innovative filmmakers? work and  the heuristic for film appreciation in
the popular imagination. Although auteurism has come under sustained attack in
recent decades, its allure has persisted ? overwhelmingly, we still view
films as being the work of a singular creative consciousness.

Since 2000, the realities of filmmaking have changed in radical ways, whether
through the proliferation of digital technology, the multiplicity of
distribution channels, the solidifying of a global festival circuit, the
blurring of distinctions between the cinema and the gallery, or the ongoing
transformation of our notions of intellectual property. With the passing of
some of the titans of auteurism, an entire system of filmmaking came to an end.
Others have risen to take their place, but they are subject to a vastly
different structural configuration.

With a focus on recent cinema, this conference will seek to assess the continued
viability of the auteurist model of filmmaking, and test it against other
theoretical paradigms.

We welcome papers on topics including, but not limited to:

-        Contemporary auteurs who have had their debut in the last decade (e.g.
Weerasethakul, Serra, Mungiu, Alonso, etc.)
-          The continued work of established figures (e.g. Godard, Oliveira,
Straub, etc.).
-          The validity of auteur theory, past and present, and the conceptual
frameworks which could potentially supersede it.
-          The current relationship between auteurs, national cinemas and the
global festival circuit.
-          The figure of the auteur in the context of media hybridisation.
-          The expanded notion of auteur (programmers, curators, video artists,
etc.)
-          Auteurism in television studies
-          Definitions of authorship in response to the shifting conditions of
intellectual property.

The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2012. Please e-mail abstracts and
inquiries to mihaela.mihailova at yale.edu and rea.amit at yale.edu. Abstracts should
be limited to 300 words.

The Conference Organizing Committee
Rea Amit, Anne Berke, Jordan Brower, Daniel Fairfax, Mihaela Mihailova

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