Association for Studies in French Cinema Annual Conference 14
4 April 2014, King’s College London

Call for Papers


The one-day conference of the Association for Studies in French Cinema will comprise two sessions, one on the cinema of Jacques Audiard, the other on the theme of Capital. In each of these sessions, contributors will be asked to present a brief paper of no more than 15 minutes and to participate in a roundtable discussion.

Audiard (chair: Julia Dobson, University of Sheffield)
The international critical and commercial success of Jacques Audiard has bestowed upon him a privileged position as a dominant auteur figure in contemporary French cinema. His tagging as the 'French Scorsese' is
intriguing in its suggestion of a complex set of discourses of auteur identities, national and transnational cinemas, contesting filiations and genres. This session aims to open up Audiard and his work to a wider set of approaches. Proposals are welcome on any aspect of his filmmaking.

Confirmed speakers: Sarah Artt (Edinburgh Napier University), Isabelle Vanderschelden (Manchester Metropolitan University).



Capital (Chair: Will Higbee, University of Exeter)
In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, there has been an increasingly wide-ranging and often polarised debate in Europe concerning both the economic ‘solutions’ to the problems faced by the global economy as well as the ethical, ideological and moral issues that arise from what is perceived as the increasingly unjust distribution of wealth in neo-liberal capitalist societies. Such questions have also preoccupied artists and cultural institutions across the arts and humanities, including French cinema. With these events and debates in mind, the aim of this strand of the conference is to consider how the theme of ‘capital’ has been dealt with in French cinema and interrogated by French filmmakers, both in films produced since the 2008 financial crisis but also throughout the history of French cinema.

Our interpretation of the theme 'capital' will be fairly broad and might include:


•      Films that take capital as their main narrative focus, or ways in which capital is central to the politics of form, style, genre or stardom.

•      French cinema’s response to questions of economic gain, financial crisis and globalization.

•      The distribution and circulation of capital, neo-liberalism and the ‘crisis’ globalization.

•      Representations of ‘capital’ seen through the prism of class, gender, sexuality or ethnicity.

•      Economies of cinema (production, distribution, exhibition)

•      The notion of Paris as both a site of capital and a capital city.

Confirmed speakers: Rosalind Galt (King’s College London), Martin O’Shaughnessy (Nottingham Trent University).


Proposals of no more than 200 words with affiliation and brief bio should be sent by 31 January as follows:

Audiard: Julia L Dobson ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), Phil Powrie ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), Sara Dicerto ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>).

Capital: Will Higbee ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), Phil Powrie ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>), Sara Dicerto ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>).

Please note that speakers will be expected to submit a full paper for possible publication in Studies in French Cinema.

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Phil Powrie
Professor of Cinema Studies
Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences
The Elizabeth Fry Building
University of Surrey
GU2 7XH

Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Executive Assistant: Linda Ellis < [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> >/+44 (0)1483689445
Webpage: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/fahs/people/phil_powrie/index.htm
Chief General Editor Studies in French Cinema: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/sfc
Vice-Chair British Association of Film Television and Screen Studies: http://www.baftss.org/
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