Issue #81 War Films/Female Directors The intent of this issue of CineAction is to open up to fresh investigation two areas of interest that have long histories in film theory and criticism, the War Film, and Female Directors and Film. War Films present an intriguing contradiction in that this popular and historically omnipresent genre has not just sunk to the bottom of audience appeal - witness the box office disasters of even critically acclaimed films on US involvement in the Mideast, especially Iraq - but at the same time, the success of war at the level of the fictional and cartoonish superhero has never been more prevalent nor fiscally rewarding. As for female directors, at this year?s Toronto International Film Festival a publicist commented that there had never been so many female directors? works being screened, to which a critic retorted that nevertheless, they still made up a fraction of all the directors. While these two themes would appear to be quite opposite in practically all ways,..typically the War film has been aimed at male audiences, while female directors have been posited as producing films that deal with women?s concerns and interests? a recent war film The Hurt Locker by Katherine Bigelow has prompted the necessity to reconsider the conventions. Papers should be submitted in hard copy only, mailed directly to Susan Morrison, the editor of this issue. Once accepted for publication, the paper will then be emailed as a file attachment. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2010. It would be appreciated if a brief proposal be submitted as early as possible as an indication of intention to submit. A style guide is available on our website www.cineaction.ca Please address all queries and submissions to the issue?s editor: Susan Morrison 314 Spadina Road Toronto On Canada M5R 2V6 [log in to unmask] ---- Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex podcast: http://www.screenlex.org