CfP: 6th NECS Graduate Workshop: Moving Images – Imagined Movements: Mobility in/of Film

Deadline: 31. December 2012

Vienna, 28 February-01 March 2013
Hosted by the Department of Theatre-, Film- and Media Studies/University of Vienna
Organized by the NECS Graduate Workshop Committee

Call for Papers
Travel as a motif in film or hypermobility through cyberspace, displayed mobility or migration in movies are some keywords about the fascination film shows since its beginnings for distant and far places. At the same time mobile cinema knows important developments, favoring not only a mobile consumption of movies but also the production of medial forms whose prerogatives lie in the connection with the spatial dimension and the movement throughout it. In examining the quest of mobility, what social shifts can be detected through contemporary media products (films, reality television shows, advertisements, the internet, video games, etc) and sociocultural practices?
Cinema developments are accomplished in parallel with technical innovations of modernity and postmodernity, harmonizing the bound linking the seventh art and the idea of mobility with the articulation of new forms of perception. In fact, both movement itself as well as the movement of the cinema apparatus changed and influenced the viewer, production and distribution strategies. This twofold phenomenon reached its peak in the daily flood of images that flicker on the Internet and in our everyday life. An explosion of movement opened a new “off-cinema apparatus” and gave birth to new cinematic modes. These modes raise questions about the representation of mobility in film and the consequences of mobility of film: what are the new forms of perception brought out by the essential connection between space and mobility? And on a most pragmatical level, are there new movements in cinema embracing ideas about how film could or should be produced and distributed? In a context as the contemporary mediascape featuring a high degree and a multifaceted mobility, what are the engagements between the filmic element, space and identity?
Focusing on moving images and imagined movements potential topics could refer (but are not limited) to:
- Representational modes:
Migration, diaspora, cinetourism, displacement, thematized by means of fictional, documentary audiovisual products or socialmedia.
- Pragmatical modes:
Consumption in mobility/mobile fruition, locative media, mobile connectivity, mapping, audiovisual/media geography, media platform, mobile surveillance
Doctoral candidates and junior researchers from cinema, visual and media studies, whether previously attached to NECS or new to the network, are invited to submit proposals for contributions.
Submissions deadline: December 31, 2012
Please address all inquiries to: [email protected]
Notification will follow shortly thereafter. The conference language is English.
Participants will need to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. Travel information as well as a list of affordable hotels and other accommodation will be provided in the beginning of January.
Conference attendance is free, but valid NECS-membership is required to participate.
Participants must register with NECS at www.necs-initiative.org and pay their fee by April 1st. For the terms of NECS membership, please also refer to our website.
NECS Graduate Workshop Committee:
Dr. Miriam De Rosa (Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan)
Mag. Alena Strohmaier (University of Vienna)

Local Organizers: Prof. Christian Schulte, Nicole Kandioler, Lydia Österreicher