Flyer

Registration

Attendance to this event is free. All welcome! If you would like to participate, please register by emailing Mariana Liz at m.liz@qmul.ac.uk

Accommodation in London

Queen Mary's Mile End campus is located in the East End of London. For a list of hotels near Queen Mary University please visit: http://www.residences.qmul.ac.uk//alternative/hotels/index.html

You may also choose to stay in central London (the campus is easily reached by bus and tube, c. 15 minutes on the Central Line from Holborn). Accommodation options include:

International Hall
http://www.halls.london.ac.uk/visitor/international/Default.aspx

Imperial Hotels
http://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/imperial

Travel and Location

Queen Mary University is located in Mile End, in the East End of London. The University is easily reached by Bus and Tube (Mile End station). For more information please visit: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/about/howtofindus/mileend/index.html

Submission

Thank you for your submissions for the seminar on 'Fantasy vs. Reality in Contemporary Portuguese Cinema'. You will be notified by Friday 18th January. Happy New Year!

Call for Papers

Traditionally an example of what Mette Hjort and Duncan Petrie have dubbed the “cinema of small nations”, Portuguese cinema has generally been characterised by low production numbers. In recent years, Portuguese filmmakers have seen their work celebrated at a series of prestigious international events, from João Salaviza’s Golden Palm in Cannes to Miguel Gomes’ presence at the Berlin Film Festival with the critically acclaimed Tabu.

This seminar wishes to explore the new international interest in the cinema made in Portugal by being particularly focused on the dichotomy between fantasy and reality. On the one hand, Portuguese cinema often questions whether the events and spaces portrayed on screen really happened or exist, being characterised by a sense of reverie, as in Gomes’ A Cara que mereces/The Face You Deserve (2004). On the other, documentary has been expanding dramatically, in terms of production (48, by Susana de Sousa Dias, was awarded de Cinéma du Réel Grand Prix in 2010) and exhibition (when we consider for instance the success and fast growth of the international film festival DocLisboa), and there is a sense in which the real country must be featured on screen.

This seminar wishes to question the pervasiveness of fantasy and reality as foundational themes in Portugal’s contemporary cinematic identity. We are interested in both short and feature films, including fiction, documentary and animation. We particularly welcome papers on popular cinema. Topics may include but are not limited to:

-       dreams and visions in Portuguese film

-       re-imagining the past

-       Portuguese national identity and the notion of illusion

-       fantastic characters and events

-       the “real” Portugal

-       the limits of cinematic representation

Please submit an abstract (max. 250 words), contact information and short bio (max. 100 words) to Mariana Liz: m.liz@qmul.ac.uk. Submission Deadline: 3 January 2013.

The seminar will begin with a screening of Ruínas/Ruins (2009), followed by a Q&A with director Manuel Mozos in conversation with Kieron Corless from the BFI.