CALL FOR PAPERS
MAX OPHULS BEYOND BORDERS
An International Conference on the Work and Legacy of Max Ophuls
College of William & Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia
March 28-30, 2003
The year 2002 marked the hundredth anniversary of the birth of
Max Ophuls, whose extraordinary directorial career spanned the
mid-twentieth century and half a dozen countries. While several
European conferences paid tribute to Ophuls' work during the past
year, this is the first conference on the filmmaker to take place
in the United States. Highlights will include plenary talks by
distinguished Ophuls scholars and archival screenings at the
recently restored Kimball Theater in Williamsburg. Our aim is
to launch the next century of Ophuls scholarship through an
international dialogue on all aspects of his artistic achievement.
The following are suggested paper topics but we also welcome other
ideas for presentations:
* Ophuls' cinematic legacy: his influence on Kubrick, Becker,
McGehee & Siegel (The Deep End), P.A. Anderson, Scorsese, Minelli,
Bertolucci, Demy, Astruc, Téchiné, Vecchiali, and other filmmakers.
* Collaborations with writers, cinematographers, and production crews;
direction of actors; relationship to national cinemas; working
conditions in European and American studios; literary adaptations
and/or influences.
* The role of class structure; sound and music; the photograph; the
star system, gender and sexuality; the military and war; costume
and art direction.
* The representation of Vienna; the influence and representation
of the "attraction" (circuses, funfairs, Hale's Tours)in Ophuls'
films.
* Ophuls and other media (theater, radio, etc.); as "genre" director
(melodrama and film noir); as Jewish filmmaker, radical director,
and/or modernist/postmodernist; as "brand name": problematizing
the notion of auteur in the context of "Ophuls'" films.
* Cultural studies approaches to Ophuls' cinema (e.g., in the context
of European and American colonialism and post-colonialism; the
roles of European and American minorities in creating the films and
as represented in them, etc.)
* Deconstructive, Bakhtinian, Deleuzian, Lacanian and other theoretical
approaches to Ophuls' films.
* The roots of Ophuls' visual style (movements, directors, theatrical
traditions).
* Restorations and archival projects; production histories of Ophuls'
films.
* Critical and spectatorial responses to Ophuls' films (including
comparative studies in different nations).
* The cinematic relationship between Max and Marcel Ophuls.
Please send 250-word proposals by November 15, 2002 to Susan White
([log in to unmask]) and Michael Trosset ([log in to unmask]).
Program Committee:
Lutz Bacher, Department of Communications, Robert Morris University
Noel Herpe, Université de Caen, Département des Arts du Spectacle
Susan White, University of Arizona, Department of English
Alan Williams, Department of French, Rutgers University
Local Arrangements (College of William & Mary): Anthony Anemone,
Colleen Kennedy, Michael Trosset
Founded in 1693, the College of William & Mary is the second oldest
university in the United States. Its scenic campus adjoins historic
Colonial Williamsburg. Williamsburg is served by two international
airports (Richmond and Norfolk).
The Hospitality House in Williamsburg will provide rooms at the special
conference rate of $78.00, single or double occupancy. The rates will be
honored for 2 days before and 2 days after the conference dates, based
on availability. Rooms need to be secured with one night's deposit by
February 28th, 2003. Thereafter, rooms can still be reserved at the
conference rate but subject to availability. The toll-free number for
reservations is 1-800-932-9192. When booking the room, participants
should be sure to say that they are with the Ophuls Conference.
Website (under construction):
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~swhite/ophulsconference
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