B for BAD cinema: aesthetics, politics and cultural value
B for BAD cinema: aesthetics, politics and cultural value
Inaugural Centre for Film and Television Studies Conference, Monash University, Melbourne, April 15–17, 2009
Call for Papers: Second Round
Due to high levels of interest in B for Bad Cinema, the Conference conveners have extended the call for papers to a second round, with a new closing date of January 30, 2009.
Over the past decade, paracinema – a movement that has grown up around sleazy, excessive, or poorly executed B-movies – has seen a counter-cultural valorisation of all forms of cinematic trash or ‘badfilm.’ In many internet and print sources devoted to the celebration of paracinema, the term B-movie has (in contrast to its earlier studio-era sense) come to mean almost anything: disreputable and unworthy movies, low-budget exploitation movies, straight to TV or video movies, and even big-budget studio movies.
B for BAD cinema invites international film scholars, critics and practitioners to present their thoughts on badfilm. The conveners additionally extend the scope of the second round to include papers devoted to television and new media. Proposals should address the conference themes:
- Cultural value and theory
- Bad feeling and affect
- Aesthetic value and bad art
- Cultural morals and politics
- Bad film/media theory and criticism
Plenary speakers include:
- Elisabeth Bronfen (University of Zurich)
- Angela Ndalianis (University of Melbourne)
- Adrian Martin (Monash University)
- Ernest Mathijs (University of British Columbia)
- Murray Pomerance (Ryerson University)
- Jeffrey Sconce (Northwestern University)
The Conference Conveners will accept proposals for individual papers or three-speaker panel sessions until January 30, 2009 Abstracts of no more than 250-words and a 100-word biography should be sent to Con Verevis.