Call for Papers The Genius of the (Other) Sytem: The Rise and Fall of the Major Soviet Studios March 12 and 13, 1999 Berkeley, California "The American cinema is a classical art, but why not then admire in it what is most admirable, i.e., not only the talent of this or that filmmaker, but the genius of the system." --Andre Bazin Many of us know Bazin's dictum, or the uses to which Schatz put it in his monograph on the American studio system. But how much do we know about the role of the studio in Soviet/post-Soviet cinema? The Graduate Film Studies Group at the University of California, Berkeley invites submissions for its spring conference. This two-day conference will explore the role of the studio in Soviet film production and will feature papers from American, Russian, and Eastern European scholars on the development and destruction of the studio system. We welcome proposals from a variety of theoretical or methodological approaches. Papers might focus on a number of topics, including individuals (e.g. Shumiatsky, Stalin, Pyriev), key moments (e.g. formation/consolidation of the studios, their wartime relocation to Alma-Ata), relationships (e.g. the studio and raw materials, the studio and the star, VGIK and the studios), etc. Comparative approaches are welcome. Submissions from graduate students are particularly encouraged. This conference is sponsored in part by the Townsend Center for the Humanities. Featured speakers will include Maya Turovskaya, Alexander Pozdniakov, and Dina Iordanova. Send abstract (200-300 words) by email, fax, or post by 1/9/99 to Sylvia Swift Film Studies #2670 UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-2670 [log in to unmask] ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama.