Call for Papers Environmental Documentaries: Assessing the Reel Environment 2008 Film & History Conference “Film & Science: Fictions, Documentaries, and Beyond” October 30-November 2, 2008 Chicago, Illinois <http://www.filmandhistory.org>www.filmandhistory.org First-Round Deadline: November 1, 2007 AREA: Environmental Documentaries With An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore proved the power of documentary to teach a public audience about environmental issues, a power that was taken seriously by the Motion Picture Academy of the Arts. Lesser-known environmental documentaries, often used in science classes or shown on television, deserve critical attention, as well. Films like Cane Toads, Blue Vinyl, and Up Close and Toxic invite significant methodological, aesthetic, and political questions: How do filmmakers translate science/scientific issues for public consumption? How do documentary and fictional treatments of similar environmental topics compare with each other? How can grassroots documentary films be used for political change? This area invites analyses of all varieties of environmental documentaries, including international films (e.g., Taj Mahal--Beyond the Love Story, India; Washed Away, Canada; A Big Lake, Belgium) and films on topics ranging from pollution, recycling, transportation, energy, food, land management, radiation, toxicity, etc. Presentations may feature analyses of individual films and/or TV programs from historical perspectives (Nanook to Harlan County, USA) or in terms of stylistic elements, production values, funding, etc. Genres might include TV programs, instructional films, newsreels and broadcast media, as well as traditional documentaries (both short and feature-length). Paper topics might include: · Comparisons between films like An Inconvenient Truth and The Day After Tomorrow · Conflicts between “Man and Nature” or the human impact on the environment · Global pollution problems (e.g., Mercury: A Hazard without Borders) · The use of environmental documentaries in science education · An analysis of documentaries about the same topic but reaching opposite conclusions Please send your 200-word proposal by November 1, 2007 to Sharon Zuber, Chair of the Environmental Documentaries Area College of William and Mary English and Film Studies P.O. 8795 Williamsburg, VA 23187 Phone: 757-221-3939; FAX: 757-221-1844 Email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] Panel proposals for up to four presenters are also welcome, but each presenter must submit his or her own paper proposal. Deadline for first-round proposals: November 1, 2007 This area, comprising multiple panels, is a part of the 2008 biennial Film & History Conference, sponsored by The Center for the Study of Film and History. Speakers will include founder John O’Connor and editor Peter C. Rollins (in a ceremony to celebrate the transfer to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh); Wheeler Winston Dixon, author of Visions of the Apocalypse, Disaster and Memory, and Lost in the Fifties: Recovering Phantom Hollywood; and Emmy award-winning writer and producer John Rubin. For updates and registration information about the upcoming meeting, see the Film & History website ( http://www.filmandhistory.org -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.4.0/762 - Release Date: 4/15/2007 4:22 PM ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu