Friday, March 21, 2014

SCMS Conference Notes, Thursday (3/20), Post 2

Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Seattle, 2014

Additional highlights from Thursday's panels on filmmaking in China, Hong Kong, and East Asia that I had a chance to attend, include:

G5 "The Cold War in East Asian Cinema" chaired by Man Fung Yip with presentations by:
Han Sang Kim - Harvard University: “Projecting the ‘Free World’ on the Colonial Screen”
Man Fung Yip - University of Oklahoma: “The Age of Lost Ideals: The Cultural Revolution, Modernization, and the Demise of Hong Kong’s Leftist Cinema”
Michael Baskett - University of Kansas: “Terminally Entertaining: Japanese Cold War Nuclear Holocaust Films for Mainstream Audiences.”

Michael Baskett's presentation focused on a fascinating early 1960s Japanese nuclear holocaust film that tapped into concurrent fears of nuclear war. The presentation framed the discussion within the context of the Cold War and the "aesthetics of destruction," among other intriguing topics and discussions.

H5 "Moviegoing Cultures and Film Exhibition in China," chaired by Yi Lu with presentations by:
Yoshino Sugawara - Kansai University: “Birth of Moviegoing: Separation, Succession, and Transformation from Traditional Theatergoing in Shanghai”
Yi Lu - University of Texas at Austin: “Promoting Motion Picture Consumption: Chinese Multiplexes and Movie Theater Marketing in the New Millennium”
Zhiwei Xiao - California State University San Marcos “Official Propaganda and Audience Appropriation: Moviegoing in China, 1949–1966.”

Zhiwei Xiao focused on the disjunction between propaganda film intention and actual audience response. Archival research reveals a multiplicity of responses to the films that did not necessarily adhere to the Communist Party's ideal to use cinema to educate rather than merely entertain during the Cold War.

Dr. Zhiwei Xiao presents at SCMS, 2014.

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