[Bilimsel Haber] CFP: Indigenous Film and Media Conference (9/15/06; 5/11/07-5/12/07)

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

Indigenous Film and Media in an International Context

Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
May 11-12, 2007


In the last decade, indigenous film, television, radio and the internet
have become important media for diverse forms of representations by
indigenous peoples around the world. The advent of digital video and the
increasing accessibility of filmic technologies of all kinds, as well as
familiarity with the languages of film, has contributed to the
exponential growth in indigenous cinemas. Indigenous films are no longer
confined to short films and documentaries, but increasingly include
dramatic feature films, animation, and experimental film-making. The
success of films such as Ofelas (Pathfinder, Sami – Norway, 1987), Smoke
Signals (Cheyenne/Arapaho – USA, 1988), Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner,
Inuit – Canada, 2001), Beneath Clouds (Gamilaroi – Australia, 2002) and
Whale Rider (Whangara -- Aotearoa/New Zealand, 2002) also signals the
possibility for indigenous cinemas to locate audiences world-wide,
rather than being limited to local interest; the new audiences for
indigenous films include both people from other indigenous groups and
non-indigenous people. Radio, television and the internet have also seen
increasing use in indigenous communities and provide exciting
opportunities for self-representation, exploration and alliances amongst
indigenous groups.

The organizers of this conference (a partnership between the Department
of English and Film Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University and the Culture
and Expression Program of the School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson
Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University) wish to
provide a forum for discussion of a wide variety of aspects of
indigenous film and media, from questions of representation, identity
and politics to the uses of technology to the problems of invoking a
comparative perspective on indigenous cinemas and other media.
Contemporary indigenous films, for example, have opened up diverse
perspectives on both contemporary and historical indigenous life.  New
film and video technologies also make visual media more accessible to
people whose issues are perhaps not ‘mainstream’ within the political
and representational spectrum both inside and outside indigenous
communities.

At the same time, the comparative perspective seems to become in some
ways inevitable when the main venues for indigenous cinemas are film
festivals, such as the Canadian ImagineNATIVE festival or the Finnish
Skábmagovat festival or the First Nations, First Features festival held
in 2005 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. While Skábmagovat
features Sami film, plus the films of one other invited indigenous group
per year, many if not most of the other indigenous film festivals accept
films from indigenous peoples anywhere in the world. Yet, the relative
inaccessibility of indigenous television and radio to audiences outside
the local broadcast areas suggests that the comparative turn in the
study of indigenous cinemas does not necessarily apply to other media.

This conference aims to open up the following questions: What issues are
newly available to indigenous film-makers and other producers of
indigenous media? What ideological forces operate both to open up and to
limit possibilities for representation of indigenous lives? What effects
have new technologies had on specific areas of indigenous
self-representation? What happens to the study of indigenous film,
television and radio when comparative perspectives are introduced, such
as a cross-cultural exploration of indigenous gender issues? How are
such comparative approaches feasible/inevitable in the face of both
local politics and global pressures on indigenous cultural production?
What are the possibilities and problems inherent in reaching different
audiences for indigenous film and other media? To what extent does the
cross-cultural exhibition of indigenous cinemas contribute to a
collaborative politics of resistance and self-affirmation? Paper
submissions are welcome from academic critics, film and media
practitioners, and community members and activists on these questions
and any other issues relevant to indigenous film and media.

To submit a paper, please send a one-page abstract, title and brief (150
word) bio to the conference organizers. The deadline for abstract
submission is September 15, 2006.

Wendy G. Pearson—wpearson at uwo.ca
Ute Lischke—ulischke at wlu.ca
David T. McNab—dtmcnab at yorku.ca
Gail Vanstone—gailv at yorku.ca


										Dr. Wendy Pearson
Assistant Professor
Department of English and Film
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo
ON    N2L 3C5
Canada