The Digital Turn
Princeton University, November 10-11, 2017
Submission deadline: October 5, 2017.
We are living in a post-cinematic era. Film is no longer a contemporary event. The advent of the digital world has impacted the moving image at every level. The big screen has become archaic. The dark room, a study space. The projection booth, a mythic prosthesis, while film festivals emphasize their vintage status. In a certain sense, the third world, before any other industrialized society, anticipated these profound changes in audiovisual production and circulation. The weakness of the legislation that protects copyright has given rise to a series of practices that reframe and rethink the cinematic mode. Likewise, new electronic platforms have opened doors to new cinematic possibilities. However, this imbalance, which has led to the extinction of spaces dedicated to film in the metropolis and to the aging of their captive audiences, is less profound in places where digitization works alongside analog methods. The coexistence of non-digital spaces with streaming platforms (like Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix) have destabilized the aesthetic and political perspectives of these new global technologies. In addition, these changes have affected the inspection, repatriation, digitization, and preservation of archival material –an issue with multiple institutional and cultural implications. This year, the Encrucijadas symposium explores the unequal space of practices and circuits that challenge the material and aesthetic migration to the digital, as well as the porous limits between cinema and new media in a global context.
This third edition of Encrucijadas will gather scholars, curators, archivists, filmmakers, and graduate students working on Latin American cinema in the New York/New Jersey area. In a two-day event open to the general public, the symposium interrogates the current trends of study, research, and production of film and media from Latin America. With screenings, curatorships, academic panels, and roundtables with programmers and filmmakers, the symposium is an opportunity to share research and information, engage in collaborative efforts among institutions, and encourage an open discussion on critical topics and issues in contemporary Latin American cinema, as well as on its history and trajectory.
For our 2017 symposium, we seek proposals in one of the following three modalities:
Submission deadline: October 5, 2017.
- Academic paper presentation (presentations no more than 20 minutes)
- Workshops (round-panels where the participants gather to discuss approaches, methodologies, findings, and new research on one particular topic.
- Curator/Programmer presentations (slots of 60 minutes each).
Please send abstract (200-300 words) of paper, workshop, or presentation and a brief bio by October 5, 2017 to encrucijadas.2017@gmail.com
Organizing Committee:
Jonathan Aguirre, Princeton University
Carl Fischer, Fordham University
Javier Guerrero (2017 chair), Princeton University
Alejandro Martínez, Princeton University
Thomas Matusiak, Princeton University
José Miguel Palacios, New York University
Sowmya Ramanathan, Princeton University
Juana Suárez, New York University
Encrucijadas/Encruzilhadas Dialogues for Latin American Cinemas 