CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Film and History in the Pacific

A Workshop at The Australian National University, Canberra

6-8 February 2008

This workshop explores two questions: how has film shaped Pacific history and
understandings of Pacific pasts? and how do - or might - Pacific historians
engage with the medium of film? Although film in the Pacific dates back to the
late 19th century and is now increasingly the medium through which Pacific
pasts are encountered by both Pacific and local audiences, Pacific historians
(with a few notable exceptions) have rarely engaged with film and even fewer
have been directly involved with film production.

Four themes will guide the workshop:

Film, frontiers and imperialism - how film has been used to document Pacific
frontiers and advance or oppose imperial interests;

War and identity - cinematic portrayals of war and their formative effects on
local and metropolitan identities;

Islanders and others - representations in film of, by and for Islanders and the
depiction of minority groups in the Pacific;

Pacific pasts and history through film - on the use of film as a source
material; as an approach to researching and representing history; and as a
means of communicating to audiences


Presentations on this last theme will especially serve postgraduate students,
filmmakers and historians who have pioneered the use of film or wish to make
greater use of it; and teachers or academics guiding and assessing students who
want to use film in their research and theses.

A program of screenings is planned in association with the workshop and
participants will have the opportunity to visit film repositories in Canberra.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts (no more than 200 words) is 31st
May 2007. Please forward abstracts to the convenors [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]> or Vicki Luker [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

For more information, please contact the convenors or visit http//:rspas.anu.
edu.au/pah/filmandhistory.
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