Call for proposals to Film International

Hollywood and the Norden

Nordic cinema is receiving increased prestige in academic studies as
well as in the global marketplace. Several recent publications have
suggestively situated Nordic cinemas in a global framework (Mette
Hjort"s Small Nation, Global Cinema: The New Danish Cinema, 2007) or
explored transnational dimensions of these cinemas (Andrew Nestingen
and Trevor Elkington"s Transnational Cinema in a Global North, 2005).
However, one area remains largely unexplored: the relationship between
Hollywood and Nordic cinemas. As elsewhere, Hollywood maintains a
substantial market share of the domestic box office and clearly
influences the development of formative and narrative styles of both
popular and art cinemas in these nations.

Even when Nordic directors and film stars have ventured into
Hollywood, this alleged "colonialisation effect" has been claimed to
suppress any cultural origins of "Nordicness", simply squeezing their
work into the monolithic Hollywood entity that restricts any authorial
vision and enforces conditions of cultural and economic imperialism.
Certain Nordic directors have met with relative success (Renny Harlin,
Lasse Hallström), while others have encountered problems with the
system (Ole Bornedal, Bille August). We have also seen several
adaptations of key Nordic films, occasionally by the directors of the
original product (Bornedal"s Night Watch, 1997), but predominantly by
a Hollywood studio that arguably dilutes much of the original content
(Pathfinder, 2007). Some popular Nordic films (Let the Right One In,
2008) have been commercial hits on the American art house circuit, but
are nevertheless remade to suit a mainstream audience (Let Me in,
2010).

These complex patterns of cross-cultural and transnational interaction
shed light on many key debates in film studies, and we encourage
approaches that seek to interrogate any notion of "Nordicness" in
Hollywood, but also how Hollywood responds to and incorporates the
Nordic element.

Film International (published by Intellect UK) is dedicating a special
journal issue to "Hollywood and the Norden" and cordially invites
proposals on this theme. Studies of contemporary cultural interactions
between Hollywood and the Norden in a broad sense are welcome.
Possible areas include, but are not limited to:

- Contemporary Nordic directors in Hollywood
- Hollywood adaptations of specific Nordic film texts
- Nordic film stars in Hollywood
- reception studies of Nordic film in the US and their remakes
- images of the Norden in Hollywood cinema
- audience studies
- cultural policy
- the Nordic welfare state and Hollywood
- ideological transmutations

Email proposals or summaries (no more than 300 words), together with a
bibliography of 3-4 titles, to the editors of the special issue,
[log in to unmask] (Lund University) and
[log in to unmask] (University of Nottingham Ningbo), no
later than March 1, 2010. Completed articles should not be more than
5,000 words, including references, and sent to the editors by
September 1, 2010. Accepted and revised contributions will be due by
December 1, 2010, with the issue scheduled to appear in the spring of
2011.

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