Film and History in the Pacific
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
A Workshop at The Australian National University, Canberra
6-8 February 2008
This workshop explores two questions: how has film shaped Pacific history and understandings of Pacific pasts? and how do – or might – Pacific historians engage with the medium of film? Although film in the Pacific dates back to the late 19th century and is now increasingly the medium through which Pacific pasts are encountered by both Pacific and local audiences, Pacific historians (with a few notable exceptions) have rarely engaged with film and even fewer have been directly involved with film production.
Four themes will guide the workshop:
* Film, frontiers and imperialism – how film has been used to document Pacific frontiers and advance or oppose imperial interests;
* War and identity – cinematic portrayals of war and their formative effects on local and metropolitan identities;
* Islanders and others – representations in film of, by and for Islanders and the depiction of minority groups in the Pacific;
* Pacific pasts and history through film – on the use of film as a source material; as an approach to researching and representing history; and as a means of communicating to audiences.
Presentations on this last theme will especially serve postgraduate students, filmmakers and historians who have pioneered the use of film or wish to make greater use of it; and teachers and academics guiding and assessing students who want to use film in their research or theses.
A program of screenings is planned in association with the workshop and participants will have the opportunity to visit film repositories in Canberra.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts (no more than 200 words) is 31st May 2007. Please forward abstracts and any inquiries to the convenors chris.ballard(at)anu.edu.au or Vicki Luker vicki.luker(at)anu.edu.au.
Attendance is open to all and registration is free, thanks to the support of the Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU.
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