Audiovisual Representations of National Identity for Small Nations: Web 2.0, BBC Wales, S4C, ITV Wales, Welsh TV and Film, Modern Writers from Wales, Welsh-North American, Cymreig Culture, Scottish Films, British Films, Sinema Cymru, Celtic music and movies, UK Filmmakers, Irish TV and Film, Cymru. Celtic Folk Music, Welsh Hymnology and Poetry. Le Cinéma Québécois, le cinéma Bretagne et des autres pays Celtiques. Tutte le cose celtiche, britanniche, gaeliche, scozzese e gallese.
Showing posts with label British Film and TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Film and TV. Show all posts
You may be aware of a BBC Trust project being conducted at CCI by Professor Steve Blandford, Professor Stephen Lacey, Dr. Ruth McElroy and Dr. Rebecca Williams on the topic of ‘Screening The Nation: Wales and Landmark Television'.
Torchwood BBCi Teaser
We are collecting questionnaire responses to representations of Wales, primarily in Doctor Who and Torchwood. We therefore invite anyone who is interested to complete an online questionnaire for the project which can be found at Questionaire English
If you prefer to respond in Welsh please visit Questionaire Welsh
We hope that some of you will be able to take part in this research and we look forward to reading some of your responses. We also encourage you to pass these links onto anyone else who might be interested.
Doctor Who Season 4 Trailer
Dr. Rebecca Williams
Research Assistant
Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Adoration of Beauty and the Grotesque, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called William Blake Spirituality: Toward a Theory of Horoscopes, Tarot and Tomorrow's Tea Leaves, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Courage 2 Create, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Grace-filled Empty Spaces, on the World Wide Web.
BBC National Orchestra of Wales Records Soundtrack for Doctor Who at new home
Dyddiad Rhyddhau: 24 March 2009
Time Travelling Orchestra BBC National Orchestra of Wales is currently recording the soundtrack for BBC Wales' new episodes of Doctor Who.
The Orchestra's music will be heard adding drama to the filmed action of David Tennant and the programme's other stars later this year beginning with the first of four Doctor Who specials on air at Easter.
Some of the Orchestra players took time out during the session to do some time travelling of their own as Doctor Who's TARDIS made a timely stop in Cardiff Bay.
Doctor Who theme tune by Nigel Kennedy - BBC Proms 2008
The Orchestra are performing and recording the music at their new home and venue BBC Hoddinott Hall at Wales Millennium Centre where they moved in January.
The Orchestra are recording the soundtrack for the first time in their new facilities since they began performing the Doctor Who theme tune and soundtrack back in 2005.
Their new studio provides the perfect conditions for them to record, purpose built for their recordings for TV, BBC Radio 3 and for concert performance.
Director of BBC National Orchestra of Wales, David Murray said "We are thrilled that the Orchestra records the soundtrack for this special programme and is associated with excellent BBC Wales' series.
National Orchestra of Wales
As well as being tremendously exciting for the players and the Orchestra team, the opportunity to perform a different style of music helps to showcase the diversity of the Orchestra.
It is also particularly exciting to be recording a soundtrack in our new home for the first time since our move here in January with the excellent recording and performing facilities that BBC Hoddinott Hall offers to the Orchestra".
BBC National Orchestra of Wales received a Beacon Award for Excellence by the Arts Council of Wales in 2008.
Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC yn Recordio Trac Sain Doctor Who yn ei chartref newydd
Dyddiad Rhyddhau: 24 Mawrth 2009
David Tennant fel Dr Who
Ar hyn o bryd mae Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC yn Teithio drwy Amser yn recordio trac sain penodau newydd Doctor Who ar gyfer BBC Wales.
Clywir cerddoriaeth y Gerddorfa yn ychwanegu drama at anturiaethau ar ffilm David Tennant a sêr eraill y rhaglen yn ddiweddarach eleni gan gychwyn â'r gyntaf o bedair rhaglen Doctor Who arbennig ar yr awyr dros y Pasg.
Cymerodd rhai o chwaraewyr y Gerddorfa hoe fach yn ystod y sesiwn i deithio drwy amser eu hunain pan roddodd TARDIS Doctor Who dro amserol am Fae Caerdydd.
Mae'r Gerddorfa'n perfformio ac yn recordio'r gerddoriaeth yn ei chartref a'i hoedfan newydd, Neuadd Hoddinott y BBC yng Nghanolfan Mileniwm Cymru lle'r ymfudodd ym mis Ionawr.
Dyma'r tro cyntaf i'r Gerddorfa'n recordio'r trac sain yn ei chyfleusterau newydd ers iddi ddechrau perfformio arwyddgan a thrac sain Doctor Who dro'n ôl yn 2005.
Gallifrey - Doctor Who
Mae ei stiwdio newydd yn cynnig yr union amgylchiadau iddi recordio, wedi'i chodi i'r pwrpas ar gyfer ei recordiadau i'r teledu, BBC Radio 3 ac ar gyfer perfformio cyngherddau.
Meddai Cyfarwyddwr Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC, David Murray "Rydym wrth ein bodd mai'r Gerddorfa sy'n recordio trac sain y rhaglen arbennig yma a'i bod ynghlwm â'r gyfres ragorol ar BBC Wales.
Ar ben bod yn aruthrol o gyffrous i'r chwaraewyr a thîm y Gerddorfa, mae'r cyfle i berfformio gwahanol fath o gerddoriaeth yn helpu i roi stondin i amryw ddoniau'r Gerddorfa.
Mae hefyd yn arbennig o gyffrous cael recordio trac sain yn ein cartref newydd am y tro cyntaf ers i ni ymfudo yma ym mis Ionawr a chennym y cyfleusterau recordio a pherfformio rhagorol sydd gan Neuadd Hoddinott y BBC i'w cynnig i'r Gerddorfa."
Enillodd Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Cymreig y BBC Ddyfarniad Cwmni Disglair gan Gyngor Celfyddydau Cymru yn 2008.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Adoration of Beauty and the Grotesque, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called William Blake Spirituality: Toward a Theory of Horoscopes, Tarot and Tomorrow's Tea Leaves, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Courage 2 Create, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Grace-filled Empty Spaces, on the World Wide Web.
[Pictured above: Aberystwyth overlooks the Irish Sea.]
CYFRWNG 2008 CONFERENCE
Aberystwyth University 1-2 May 2008
New Platforms :: Convergence
The Cyfrwng 2008 conference will be held in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, on 1-2 May and this year’s theme is ‘Convergence – Cydgyfeiriant’. During the two day event, a range of speakers, papers and panels will consider how the media in Wales are rising to the challenge of a digital, multiplatform world.
The conference programme will be published on this website shortly but we are urging people to register as soon as possible and to book their place at the conference dinner which will follow the Cyfrwng 2008 award ceremony on Thursday night 1 May.
The dinner will be hosted at the Council Chamber in the National Library but space is limited! Come back to the website soon for full programme details but speakers include:
[Pictured above: Dr David Barlow, University of Glamorgan]
Dr Mike Cormack, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
[Pictured above: Phil George, National English Language Theatre]
[Pictured above: John Geraint, Green Bay Media Limited]
Rhian Gibson, S4C Director of Commissioning
Janet Lewis Jones, BBC Trust
Prof. Tom O’Malley, Aberystwyth University
Elis Owen, Managing Director ITV Wales
[Pictured above: Prof. Mike Pearson, Aberystwyth University]
Arshad Rasul, Director of Technology, S4C
[Pictured above: Dr Heike Roms, Aberystwyth University]
Mandy Rose, Creative Director: Multiplatform, BBC Wales
[Pictured above: Ceri Sherlock, Multiplatform Commissioning Executive, BBC Wales]
[Pictured above: Prof. Elan Closs Stephens, Aberystwyth University]
Prof. Ioan Williams, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
Rhodri Williams, Ofcom Wales
For further information, contact Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones or Rhodri ap Dyfrig on 01970 622533.
Bydd cynhadledd Cyfrwng 2008 yn cael ei chynnal yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru yn Aberystwyth rhwng 1-2 Mai a’r thema eleni yw ‘Cydgyfeiriant – Convergence’. Dros gyfnod o ddau ddiwrnod, bydd amrywiaeth o ddarlithoedd a phaneli difyr yn trafod sut mae cyfryngau Cymru yn ymateb i her yr oes ddigidol, aml-lwyfan.
Caiff rhaglen y gynhadledd ei chyhoeddi ar y wefan hon cyn hir ond rydym yn annog pobl i gofrestru mor fuan â phosib ac i sicrhau lle yng nghinio’r gynhadledd fydd yn dilyn seremoni wobrwyo Cyfrwng 2008 ar nos Iau 1 Mai.
Y bwriad yw cynnal y swper yn Ystafell y Cyngor y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol ond mae nifer y llefydd yn gyfyngedig, felly cyntaf i’r felin! Dewch nôl i’r wefan am fanylion llawn y rhaglen ond dyma rai o siaradwyr y gynhadledd:
Dr David Barlow, Prifysgol Morgannwg Dr Mike Cormack, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Phil George, Theatr Genedlaethol cyfrwng Saesneg John Geraint, Green Bay Rhian Gibson, Cyfarwyddwr Comisiynu S4C
Janet Lewis Jones, Ymddiriedolaeth y BBC Yr Athro Tom O’Malley, Prifysgol Aberystwyth
Elis Owen, Rheolwr Gyfarwyddwr ITV Wales Yr Athro Mike Pearson, Prifysgol Aberystwyth
Arshad Rasul, Cyfarwyddwr Technoleg S4C Dr Heike Roms, Prifysgol Aberystwyth Mandy Rose, Cyfarwyddwr Creadigol: Aml-lwyfan, BBC Cymru Ceri Sherlock, Gweithredwr Comisiynu BBC Cymru Yr Athro Elan Closs Stephens, Prifysgol Aberystwyth Yr Athro Ioan Williams, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru Rhodri Williams, Ofcom Cymru
Am fwy o wybodaeth, cysyllter ag Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones neu Rhodri ap Dyfrig ar 01970 622533.
From the article entitled, "Bagpipers honor Irish who fought for Mexico"
By Chris Hawley, USA TODAY
"MEXICO CITY — Every month, a wail of bagpipes reverberates through a plaza in downtown Mexico City, causing startled passersby to stop and stare.
Then, from behind the bullet-scarred walls of an old fortress, a platoon of Mexican bagpipers emerges through the gates — paying tribute to an obscure but divisive chapter of history involving Mexico, Ireland and the United States.
The ceremony honors the St. Patrick Battalion, a group of 600 Irish-American soldiers who switched sides to fight for Mexico in the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War.
On St. Patrick's Day, many Mexicans will raise a glass to commemorate the "Irish martyrs" who are regarded as heroes in a war that still arouses passions here.
"It's a little bit of a weird twist on history … and quite romantic for the Irish community," said Myles Doherty, the Irish consul in Mexico City.
[Pictured above: brutal branding of Irish soldier / male sado-masochism depicted as a reality of war in One Man's Hero (1999) starring Tom Berenger, Don Wycherley, Ilia Volokh, Wolf Muser, Luke Hayden, and Gredd Fitzgerald]
The battalion's story begins with Ireland's Potato Famine of the 1840s, which forced thousands of Irish to emigrate to the USA and other countries."
You might be asking, with such a bizarre story, had anyone made a film, yet?
The article tells us:
"The San Patricios were seen much differently in the USA, even by fellow Irish immigrants, said Ian McGowan, archivist at the Institute for Irish-American Studies at the City University of New York.
"For a good 40 or 50 years, they were almost completely forgotten about," McGowan said. "The unofficial position of Irish who were looking to become Americans in the 19th century was not to discuss them."
"Recently, Americans have begun to pay more attention to the battalion. Several books have been written in the past decade and the 1999 movie One Man's Hero was about Riley."
Plot summary for One Man's Hero (1999):
"One Man's Hero" tells the little-known story of the "St. Patrick's Brigade" or "San Patricios," a group of Irish immigrants who deserted to Mexico after encountering religious and ethnic prejudice in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War.
The plot centers around the personal story of John Riley, an Irishman who had been a seargent in the American Army who leads the brigade, as he leads his men in battle and struggles with authorities on both sides of the border.
One Man's Hero, directed by Lance Hool was nominated for the 2000 'Outstanding Director of a Feature Film' ALMA Award (American Latino Media Arts Awards).
[Pictured above: Emmy nominee Robert Carlyle stars in Justin Kerrigan's newest film currently being shoot in South Wales.]
Emmy nominee Robert Carlyle, who found fame in 'The Full Monty' and 'Trainspotting' and whose credits have since included 'Carla's Song', 'The World is Not Enough' and '28 weeks later' is currently filming Cardiff born, Justin Kerrigan's new feature film 'I Know you Know' in Bridgend, and Port Talbot.
Carlyle takes the lead role of Charlie in the coming of age drama, in which a boy relishes the excitement and challenge of his father's espionage work; until the 'spy game' turns real.
Jamie, a young teenager, is fascinated by his father Charlie's espionage work until the world of spies becomes all too real.
Charlie lives in his own reality—an undercover agent, always on an important mission, always on the move.
Life for Charlie is highly charged and on the edge.
He is unpredictable, explosive, yet kind hearted and fiercely protective of his Jamie who hero-worships his father until he slowly begins to understand that his father is occupying a quite different reality.
Making his screen debut alongside Carlyle as Jamie is Cardiff school boy, Arron Fuller who was picked to play Carlyle's son in the movie.
The 13 year-old is a pupil at lady Mary Secondary School, Cardiff.
Kerrigan is best known for his 1999 hit 'Human Traffic' for which, amidst several other awards, he won a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Director and was nominated for a Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer at the BAFTA 2000 awards in London.
Human Traffic Trailer -- Miramax Films
Kerrigan is working alongside the experienced and award winning producer Sally Hibbin of Screen East sponsored Parallax Independent, whose extensive list of credits include 'Yasmin'.
'Liam' starring Ian Hart and 'Carla's Song' that was directed by Ken Loach and starred Robert Caryle. He also appeared in her 1990 hit 'Riff Raff', winner of the Cannes Critics prize.
'I Know you Know' has the financial backing of the Film Agency for Wales, on behalf of the Arts Council of Wales National Lottery and the Wales Creative IP Fund, managed by Finance Wales on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, in association with Limelight, Post Republic and the Screen East Content Investment Fund.
Worldwide sales are being handled by LA based, The Little Film Company, helmed by the acclaimed sales agent, Robbie Little.
[Pictured above:Pauline Burt, Chief Executive of the Film Agency for Wales]
Pauline Burt, Chief Executive of the Film Agency said:
"We operate our lottery finance as a talent fund rather than a location fund, placing a particular focus on Welsh born and/or resident writers, directors and producers.
We have been involved in the development of Justin's feature, which is close to his heart and for which he has a particular and engaging vision, and we are delighted to additionally contribute significantly to the production financing to help get this film made.
The Twang - Two Lovers -- Also directed by Justin Kerrigan
This story is original, touching, evocative and has, in our opinion, the potential to travel at an international level and put Justin firmly back on the talent map for filmmakers of international repute.
Additionally of course, we hope that the film can be a showcase for a previously undiscovered talent, in the form of Arron Fuller."
"This is one of seven features that we're currently supporting with production finance – each of which is distinctive, and we have a further 15 features in development, each of which have key Welsh talent that we're keen to platform to the wider film industry."
Linda James of the Wales Creative IP Fund, said:
"The commercial potential of 'I Know You Know' as a film destined for a global marketplace is a reflection of its star power with Robbie Carlyle in the lead, and the talents of Cardiff-born writer/director, Justin Kerrigan, and producer, Sally Hibbin.
We are delighted to have been instrumental in the film happening and from the footage that has been shot to date, It already looks to be a jewel.
"The export potential of projects, the inward investment to Wales and the development of Wales' Creative Industries all feature in the investments made by the Wales Creative IP Fund."
"The film is the 15th investment made by the £7million Wales Creative IP Fund which has invested £4.7million million since it was established in May 2005."
"We would like to acknowledge the support of CIRIC at Swansea Institute and in particular two of their staff Chris Buxton and Chris Holtom.
CIRIC supports economic development in the Objective One area of Wales through their support of creative practitioners. They have been a huge help," finished Sally Hibbin.
The Film Agency for Wales is funded by the Arts Council for Wales, the UK Film Council and the Welsh Assembly Government, via Creative Business Wales, the latter of which was set up to support, encourage and increase the range and number of films being produced in Wales and to foster the abundance of creative talent in Wales.
Film, Media and Popular Culture in Ireland Cityscapes, Landscapes, Soundscapes by Martin McLoone
This collection of essays from Martin McLoone takes a new look at contemporary culture in Ireland through the filter of three main developments – the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy in the South, the peace process in the North and the general rise in Ireland of ‘diasporan awareness’.
The book considers the impact of these three factors on the film, television, and music produced in Ireland, mostly since the 1990s, and speculates on how this popular culture reflects both what has been gained in the new Ireland but also what has been lost.
Specific concerns of the book are the secularisation of Ireland and popular culture’s assault on the Church generally (and the priest in particular); the changing cityscapes and landscapes of the new Ireland;
the ‘death’ of politics; sexual freedom and personal liberation; the problem of representing unionist culture in the North; Van Morrison’s Belfast and the rise of ‘possessive individualism’ in Ireland.
The book celebrates the new Ireland but also raises issues about the loss of aspects of Irish identity that were valuable and suggests the need for a new ‘collective imaginary’ that might reinvigorate Irish identity in the new millennium.
Contents:
Introduction: An Irish Monument in a Foreign Field: The Changing Configurations of Irish Studies 1900-2005
Strumpet City in Post-modern Times: The Return of the Oppressed?
Cinema, City and Imaginative Space: 'Hip Hedonism' and recent Irish Cinema
Topographies of Terror and Taste: The Reimagining of Belfast in Recent Cinema
Celtic Cities, Celtic Landscapes
Haunted Landscapes and the Irish West
December Bride: A Landscape Peopled Differently
Settling Old Scores? Religion, Secularisation and recent Irish Cinema
The Political Power of the Feisty Colleen: Contradiction in the Screen Persona of Maureen O'Hara
Irish Soundscapes: Hybridity and National Musics (with Noel McLaughlin)
Rootedness and Transcendence: Van Morrison's Belfast
Irish Soundscapes: Punk Music and the Political Power of 'What-Might-Have-Been'
Representing the Unionists
Martin McLoone is Professor of Media Studies (Film, Television and Photography) in the Centre for Media Research at the University of Ulster, Coleraine.
He has written extensively on all aspects of the media in Ireland and Britain (including radio and popular music).
He is the author of Irish Film: The Emergence of a Contemporary Cinema, published in 2000.
Historical films and TV series set in the early modern period abound, yet historians have only recently begun to trouble themselves with these popular representations of the past.
Even in film and TV studies, discussion is more about form, technique and aesthetic context than content and message.
What is lacking is a critical dialogue appraising these films and what their choice of subject matter and the way in which it is presented says about contemporary society and its relationship with the past.
This interdisciplinary conference seeks to bring together scholars from the fields of early modern history and literature, media and cultural studies and modern cultural history to discuss the representation of a particular period of history (c.1500-c.1800) on screen (whether in the cinema or on television).
Participants are invited to offer papers on the heritage-film debate, historical film and collective memory, the role of historical productions in making history and its debates accessible, adaptations of early modern texts, the use of historical documentaries, or any other aspect of early modern history on screen.
Please send abstracts of not more than 300 words and a brief CV to the address below.
Papers will be of 20 mins. duration and aimed at promoting discussion.
Deadline for abstracts: 11 January 2008.
Dr Jonathan Durrant Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Glamorgan Pontypridd CF37 1DL United Kingdom
Tony Whitehead is Cinema Programmer at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff. He also works as a part-time lecturer in film at the University of Glamorgan. His book on Mike Leigh has just been published by Manchester University Press.
Tony Whitehead in among the film students' favourite lecturers at the University of Glamorgan, Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries ATRiuM (CCI) Film & Media department, currently teaching 'Screen Language' and other courses.
Tony Whitehead's new book on Mike Leigh is actually enjoyable, not to mention that Leigh himself endorsed it.
It's a wonderful trip down memory lane, revisiting every character and hilariously tragic line of dialogue from Bleak Moments to Vera Drake. Vanessa Gildea, Film Ireland --Vanessa Gildea, Film Ireland
Mike Leigh may well be Britain's greatest living film director; his worldview has permeated our national consciousness.
This book gives detailed readings of the nine feature films he has made for the cinema, as well as an overview of his work for television.
Written with the co-operation of Leigh himself, this is the first study of his work to challenge the critical privileging of realism in histories of the British cinema, and place the emphasis instead on the importance of comedy and humour:
of jokes and their functions, of laughter as a survival mechanism, and of characterisations and situations that disrupt our preconceptions of 'realism'.
Striving for the all-important quality of truth in everything he does, Leigh has consistently shown how ordinary lives are too complex to fit snugly into the conventions of narrative art.
Developing characters and narratives through meticulous processes of improvisation in preparation and rehearsal, Leigh has led his collaborators in creating a body of work that is utterly distinctive.
From the bittersweet observation of "Life is Sweet" or "Secrets and Lies", to the blistering satire of "Naked" and the manifest compassion of "Vera Drake", he has demonstrated a matchless ability to perceive life's funny side as well as its tragedies, establishing a unique niche in the British cinema as both humorist and humanist.
Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Manchester University Press (1 May 2007) Language English ISBN-10: 0719072379
The Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations Announces the next upcoming Cardiff Academic ATRiuM Event . . .
The Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries has moved from the University's Treforest campus to our new ATRiuM home in Cardiff city centre.
With ‘state of the art’ facilities this will offer exciting opportunities for joint work with new partners.
Public Lecture on Small-Nation Filmmaking by Professor Mette Hjort, 5.30pm Weds 28th November 2007
Distinguished academic Professor Mette Hjort will be speaking at ATRiuM on Wednesday 28th November. In her only public appearance in Wales, Professor Hjort will deliver a lecture on The ‘Advance Party’ Initiative: Scottish/Danish Solutions to the Problems of Small-Nation Filmmaking.
‘Advance Party’ is a Scottish Dogme project which sets out to do for Scotland what director Lars von Trier’s Dogme 95 had done for Denmark. Professor Hjort will examine how this unique model of transnational filmmaking helps to provide solutions to the problems of small-nation filmmaking.
Distinguished academic Professor Mette Hjort will be speaking at ATRiuM at 5.30pm Weds 28th November. In her only public talk in Wales, Professor Hjort will deliver a lecture on The 'Advance Party' Initiative: Scottish/Danish Solutions to the Problems of Small-Nation Filmmaking.
'Advance Party' is a Scottish Dogme project which sets out to do for Scotland what director Lars von Trier's Dogme 95 had done for Denmark. Professor Hjort will examine how this unique model of transnational filmmaking helps to provide solutions to the problems of small-nation filmmaking.
Professor Hjort is the Leverhulme Visiting Professor of Film Studies at St Andrews in Scotland and Professor of Visual Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. She has published Small Nations, Global Cinema, and co-edited volumes including The Cinema of Small Nations, Cinema and Nation, The Postnational Self and Purity and Provocation: Dogme 95.
About one of the newest books by Professor Mette, The Cinema of Small Nations:
Synopsis: Within cinema studies there has emerged a significant body of scholarship on the idea of 'National Cinema' but there has been a tendency to focus on the major national cinemas.
Less developed within this field is the analysis of what we might term minor or small national cinemas, despite the increasing significance of these small entities with the international domain of moving image production, distribution and consumption.
"The Cinema of Small Nations" is the first major analysis of small national cinemas, comprising twelve case studies of small national - and sub national - cinemas from around the world, including Ireland, Denmark, Iceland, Scotland, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
Written by an array of distinguished and emerging scholars, each of the case studies provides a detailed analysis of the particular cinema in question, with an emphasis on the last decade, considering both institutional and textual issues relevant to the national dimension of each cinema.
While each chapter contains an in-depth analysis of the particular cinema in question, the book as a whole provides the basis for a broader and more properly comparative understanding of small or minor national cinemas, particularly with regard to structural constraints and possibilities, the impact of globalization and internationalisation, and the role played by economic and cultural factors in small-nation contexts.
This book includes the first major study of a range of small national cinemas. It provides detailed and informative studies of particular small national cinemas from around the globe.
It features an implicit comparative element that reveals major similarities and differences across the case studies.
It also features a strong line up of international contributors including a number of major internationally recognised experts in the field.
It is written in an accessible style to appeal to students, academics and the general reader alike.
Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries / ATRiuM The University of Glamorgan Adam Street Cardiff CF24 2XF
[Pictured above: The Glamorgan Business Centre at the University of Glamorgan, Treforest campus, where Professor Hamish Fyfe of the Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries will deliver his lecture tonight.]
Event Date November 13, 2007 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location – Glamorgan Business Centre, Treforest Campus
‘Cycles of Affirmation – Art and Community in the New Century’ given by Professor Hamish Fyfe of the Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries
“What I’d like to do in this inaugural lecture is to frame three questions – about the value of the arts in people’s lives, about the elements required to make creative space for people and about some of the ways that we might move our work forward in the next decade to ensure that these spaces continue to develop.”
Refreshments will be served at 5.30pm and following the Lecture a buffet will be served in the Glamorgan Business Centre.
For further information or to book a place contact June Landeg on 01443 482788 or email: researchoffice@glam.ac.uk
The Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations Announces Cardiff ATRiuM Calendar of Events . . .
In the Autumn Term and beyond we will be building on our research work through an exciting series of lectures, symposia, publications and other projects.
ATRiuM move:
The Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries has moved from the University's Treforest campus to our new ATRiuM home in Cardiff city centre. With ‘state of the art’ facilities this will offer exciting opportunities for joint work with new partners.
Symposium: ‘The Representation of Welsh Identity Abroad’ 13-14th November 2007
On 13th and 14th November 2007 the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations is hosting a symposium on The Representation of Welsh Identity Abroad. The Keynote Address will be delivered by First Minister, Rhodri Morgan AM, on the evening of Tuesday 13th November.
[Pictured above: Welsh National Assembly First Minister: Rhodri Morgan]
On Wednesday 14th November, a diverse group of arts and cultural practitioners and academics will address the symposium theme through a series of focused conversations and group exercises. These discussions will be set within the context of what is now a key economic sector, the creative and cultural industries.
[Pictured above: The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.]
We are most fortunate to have Dr Betty Belanus, Curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, as a participant at this symposium. Dr Belanus is currently a Visiting Research Fellow with the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations.
The symposium will be held in the ATRiuM, the University of Glamorgan’s new faculty in Cardiff city centre.
Please contact Jackie Aplin (address below) for a registration form and further details.
Public Lecture on Small-Nation Filmmaking by Professor Mette Hjort, 5.30pm Weds 28th November 2007
Pictured above: Dr. Mette Hjort]
Mette Hjort was born in Denmark but educated in Kenya, Britain, Holland, Switzerland, Canada and France. She did her B.A. and M.A. at McGill University in Quebec, Canada, where she did a thesis on Kant and art under the supervision of the Canadian philosopher and political theorist, Charles Taylor.
She holds a so-called ‘nouveau doctorat’ from the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. Her dissertation, entitled ‘Le procès du spectacle’ was written under the supervision of Louis Marin and focussed on anti-theatricality (pamphlet literature and treatises) in seventeenth century France and sixteenth century England.
Mette Hjort was for many years Associate Professor of English at McGill university, where she was Director of Film and Communications.
She moved to Denmark in 1997 for personal reasons and is currently on leave from her position as Professor in the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Aalborg University.
Mette Hjort is interested in the history of drama, critical theory, philosophy and literature, and minor cinema. She has published The Strategy of Letters (Harvard UP) and, with Ib Bondebjerg, an interview book entitled The Danish Directors: Dialogues on a Contemporary National Cinema (Intellect).
She is editor or co-editor of Rules and Conventions (Johns Hopkins UP), Emotion and the Arts (Oxford UP), Cinema and Nation (Routledge), The Postnational Self (U of Minnesota P) and Purity and Provocation: Dogma 95 (British Film Institute Publications).
'Small Nation, Global Cinema', a book focusing on the challenges faced by small nations in an increasingly globalized media culture, was recently published by the University of Minnesota Press, in the Public Planet series.
A monograph on Stanley Kwan's 'Center Stage' is forthcoming with the University of Hong Kong Press, in the Hong Kong Film Classics Series.
Mette Hjort is Series Editor, with Peter Schepelern, of a new Nordic Film Classics Series that will feature books by James Schamus (on Dreyer's Gertrud), John Hall and Charles Lindholm (on Bent Hamer's Kitchen Stories,) and many others.
Distinguished academic Professor Mette Hjort will be speaking at ATRiuM at 5.30pm Weds 28th November. In her only public talk in Wales, Professor Hjort will deliver a lecture on The 'Advance Party' Initiative: Scottish/Danish Solutions to the Problems of Small-Nation Filmmaking.
'Advance Party' is a Scottish Dogme project which sets out to do for Scotland what director Lars von Trier's Dogme 95 had done for Denmark. Professor Hjort will examine how this unique model of transnational filmmaking helps to provide solutions to the problems of small-nation filmmaking.
Professor Hjort is the Leverhulme Visiting Professor of Film Studies at St Andrews in Scotland and Professor of Visual Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. She has published Small Nations, Global Cinema, and co-edited volumes including The Cinema of Small Nations, Cinema and Nation, The Postnational Self and Purity and Provocation: Dogme 95.
Smithsonian Institution Visiting Fellow
Folklorist Dr Betty Belanus, Curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, has joined the Centre as a Visiting Research Fellow and is undertaking preparatory work for the Smithsonian Festival's focus on Wales in 2009.
2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington, DC
Since arriving, Dr Belanus has been engaged in an active period of fieldwork which has also involved consultative planning visits around Wales.
Smithsonian Internship
Glamorgan postgraduate student Dr Aparna Sharma has successfully completed an internship which was developed in collaboration between the University of Glamorgan and the Smithsonian Institution.
[Pictured above: Madhvi Dalal, 31, a dancer of Indian origin who currently lives in Cardiff, who is featured in research and articles by Dr. Aparna Sharma]
Aparna, who recently completed her PhD, is a documentary filmmaker and journalist with a particular interest in the visual representation of minority cultures and national and cultural identities.
Centre 'Round Table'
The Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations held its first Round Table working lunch event in June. Expert practitioners with an interest in the Centre’s concerns were brought together to share their thoughts and inform future work.
[Pictured above: Patricia Aithie "Valleys, Wales" oil on canvas 2007 40 x 50cm sold}
The guests were photographer and painter Patricia Aithie; Artist and commentator Iwan Bala; Broadcaster and former BBC Wales arts correspondent Jon Gower; and Electoral Commissioner, Ofcom board member and former BBC Wales & ITN political editor Glyn Mathias.
A wide ranging discussion covered links with other minority cultures, particularly Galicia, cultural diversity, tribalism, faith, the decline of ideologies, democratic engagement and more.
Another event with new guests is planned for the Atrium in early 2008.
Other items of interest . . .
Channel 4: The First Twenty-Five Years
BFI / Channel 4 Conference, 17 –18th November 2007
Professor Steve Blandford, Associate Dean, Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries, will present a paper on C4 and National Voices - S4C and Cinema at the British Film Institute's conference on the first 25 years of Channel Four.
Communication in the Age of Suspicion: Trust and the Media
This volume, edited by Dr Vian Bakir and Dr David Barlow, includes 14 international contributions which examine a number of media genres and media forms.
To make your reservation for the conference you must quickly contact Ms. Jackie Aplin, at the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations:
Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries / ATRiuM The University of Glamorgan Adam Street Cardiff CF24 2XF Email: jsaplin[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk Web: http://culture.research.glam.ac.uk/
