CFP: Re/Framing Eastern European Cinema Conference (Princeton University)

Deadline: August 1, 2023

Event Date: October 28-29, 2023

Abstract Submission Date: August 1, 2023

Organizer: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, USA

A two-day international conference, Re/Framing Eastern European Cinema, will focus on the re-conceptualization of Eastern European cinema and its master narratives before and in the aftermath of the Russian-Ukrainian war of 2022. We will particularly welcome contributions discussing media cultures from the zones of passive and active conflicts in the former communist states constituting the Eastern Bloc.

Participants will interrogate the principal cultural canon, challenge common historical interpretations, and reflect on the visual experiences of displacement and violence in light of the largest military crisis in Europe since WWII. The interdisciplinary nature of the conference will situate the project in relation to the humanities by exploring traditional aspects of the filmmaking (production, distribution, exhibition and reception) and the new regional cultural politics. The main research goal is to shift the optics of our understanding of the essence of Eastern European cinema and conflicts reflected both in its past and present. 

Contributions may discuss various media cultures, primarily from the zones of passive and active conflicts, including those of Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine, as well as former East Germany, Yugoslavia, the former Soviet republics and the Russian Federation.

The conference will include several curated screenings open to the public, followed by Q&A sessions with the invited film directors.

We welcome papers on any aspect of film and media studies representing the regions in question on topics including, but not limited to:

  • How do we (re)write film/production/reception histories in a time of war?
  • How do we record and archive testimonies (in documentary and artistic modes), especially those dealing with traumatic events, on both the intimate personal and broader socio-political levels?
  • How to apply historical film analysis to the recent catastrophic events?
  • Can we view the Soviet empire as the latest phase in the history of imperial struggles over the territory as reflected in the movies?
  • To what extent did the fall of the Iron Curtain renew the hierarchy between East and West through cinema?
  • How social media and Internet streaming shape the look and style of Eastern European cinema, especially documentary footage dealing with politics of dissent and recording war and violence?

Please submit your proposal, which will consist of a title, 250-300 word abstract, and a short bio note, by August 1, 2023.

You will receive a confirmation email. If you have any questions or concerns, contact Yuri Leving at yleving@princeton.edu

Accepted presenters will be notified by August 10, and the conference program will be available by September 1 to enable travel planning.

Organizing Committee:

Yuri Leving, Princeton University, Chair 

Birgit Beumers, Aberystwyth University

Aniko Imre, University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Ewa Mazierska, University of Central Lancashire

Yuri Shevchuk, Columbia University

Presenters will be invited to submit their work for potential publication as a special cluster.

The conference is funded by Princeton University and participants will be reimbursed for their airfare and accommodation expenses.