Please find at the end of this message a call for papers for the Africa region (other areas can be accessed from the website below). The Documentary Tradition 8 to 12 November 2006 Dallas, Texas, United States The Documentary Tradition and its many permutations will be the topic of the Fall, 2006 Film & History conference. Back in 1971, Lewis Jacobs published an anthology of readings on the evolving nature of documentary, 1894-1950. Entitled The Documentary Tradition, the book is still available in paperback. A number of us used this collection as a platform from which to dive into the topic of film and history. Fortunately, in my case, there was a life-saving Editor-in-Chief named John E. Connor to show me how to swim and, over time, Film & History has helped many others to stay afloat in an interdisciplinary pool. Topics for our conference will include the following film and television genre: * Documentaries * Propaganda films * Docudramas * Historical films attempting to define history * Newsreels and broadcast media * 'Real worlds' and reality programming * Actualities, cinema verite, avant garde, and direct cinema. As always, we are interested in how motion pictures reflect history or attempt to influence it. The interpretation of history through film is important as well. For examples of our approach, consult Film & History at your library or breeze through the TOCs for the last 35 years on the web site. Here are some possible areas for exploration and discussion: * Ethnography, sociology, ethnicity * Gender in nonfiction film * Educational and industrial films * Government sponsorship and political or social ideology * Nature studies, urban landscape and travel * Religion and spirituality * National documentary film theories and schools * Historical eras and coverage of historical events * Popular culture, concert films, music videos, sport and leisure * Technique, technology and cyberspace * Documentary auteurs. *Guest film artists: D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, makers of The War Room (2003) and other cinema verite classics. *Featured scholars: Raymond Fielding, the dean of newsreel studies and Betsy McLane, the diva of documentary. Both have new books to share. We will be looking for ideas, area chairs, and helpers. Join us now in the planning stages. We welcome your suggestions. Deadline for panels and proposals is August 15, 2006 Enquiries: [log in to unmask] Web address: http://www.filmandhistory.org Sponsored by: Film and History League Call for Papers 2006 Film and History League Conference "The Documentary Tradition" www.filmandhistory.org AREA: Documentary in Africa : Refiguring history Nowhere is the link between documentary and history as clear as it is when examining documentaries about societies in transition. Africa in the 3rd millennium is in an ongoing process of re-assessing its past and deconstructing the narratives of colonialism. When producing documentaries in societies in transition, filmmakers from previously marginalized groups are redefining shifting identities. In the absence of written social history or reliable visual representations, Africans are starting to reconstruct lost memories and shape a new history. Representations of Africans and African society in documentary, ethnographic or otherwise, are problematic and closely allied to the discourses of colonialism and historical narratives of oppression and marginalization. How are documentaries in postcolonial Africa subverting the dominant representations of the past? Are new voices emerging which can create alternative representations and rework stereotypes of the past? We are inviting submissions on all aspects of documentary about and by Africans. In addition to these larger issues or in conjunction with them, topics may include: History and Narrative in Documentary film Representing memories of trauma : African experiences Shifting identities in transitional societies. Documentaries as subversive cultural production Gender, race, class, and sexual identities etc. Deadline for submission is July 25, 2006. The Film and History League conference details can be found at www.filmandhistory.org. The meeting will run from 8-12 November, 2006 in the Dolce Conference Center near the DFW airport. A spectrum of other areas will evolve on the web site over time. Send all inquiries and proposals to Phyllis Dannhauser Department of Communication (B-Ring 6) Auckland Park Kingsway Campus University of Johannesburg phone 27 11 489 2963 fax 27 11 489 2426 [log in to unmask] ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu