Call for Papers Portals: exploring films within films Scope: an online journal of film is soliciting short pieces for a special issue of its film review section. These pieces should explore the fictitious films that often feature as an element of a film's own diegetic world. Entitled "Portals: exploring films within films", the special issue takes its inspiration from the Coen Brothers' latest film O Brother, Where Art Thou? which "makes" the socially conscious film that the Hollywood director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is planning at the start of Preston Sturges's 1941 satire Sullivan's Travels. Examples of such films within films are numerous, and range from "Helix": Julia Roberts's Sci-Fi movie within Notting Hill, to Fritz Lang's "The Odyssey" within Jean Luc Godard's Le Mepris. While not prescriptive, reviews might consider the ways in which such films within films offer, however fleetingly, alternative perspectives on such issues as star image, genre, film history or authorship, and the tantalising promise of parallel cinematic worlds. Possible films might include: *A Star is Born (1937) Dir. William Wellman *Day for night (1973) Dir. François Truffaut. *Living in Oblivion (1995) Dir. Tom DiCillo *Love and Death on Long Island (1997) Dir. Richard Kwietniowski *Man with a movie camera (1929) Dir. Dziga Vertov *The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Dir. Vincente Minnelli *The Last Action Hero (1993) Dir. John McTiernan *The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Dir. Woody Allen *The Watermelon Woman (1996) Dir. Cheryl Dunye *Valley of the Dolls (1967) Dir. Mark Robson Submissions should be received by 15th July 2000. Reviews should be between 1000 and 1500 words in length, and prepared in MLA style. Authors should submit reviews in Word97/98 (or earlier) or Rich Text Format (RTF), and by e-mail attachment or by floppy disk. Address all inquiries and submissions for this special issue to: James Lyons, Film Review Editor, Scope: An online journal of Film Studies Institute of Film Studies University of Nottingham University Park Nottingham NG7 2RD E-mail: [log in to unmask] Scope Homepage: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/film/journal/contents.htm ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html