The Cosmological Liveliness of Terril Calder\u27s The Lodge: Animating Our Relations and Unsettling Our Cinematic Spaces

I first saw Métis artist Terril Calder\u27s 2014 stop-frame feature, The Lodge, an independently made, relatively small- budget film, at its premiere at the ImagineNative Film + Media Arts festival, held annually in Toronto, Canada. The feature-length animation played to a full house at the Light-box Theater downtown. Many were there to attend the five-day festival, which is dedicated to Indigenous media made by and for Indigenous people. Others were there because as members of Toronto\u27s general public they wanted to catch a movie during a night out in the city. Since then The Lodge has shown at various other independent venues. It isn\u27t what you might think of as commercial fare. Its audiences are not huge. However, for those who do view The Lodge, the film presents a creative space to rethink our sense of boundaries in a number of ways: boundaries between human/nonhuman, white/Indigenous, male/female, spectator/film-object. In this essay, I argue that the film is thus an invitation to question the naturalness of hegemonic identity assumptions that demarcate such boundaries. I interviewed Calder (via Skype and subsequent email correspondence) soon after I saw the film, and I situate a close textual analysis of the film within the context of her intent and the burgeoning scholarly dialogue between Indigenous studies and ecocritical studies. The scholarly dialogue, as Joni Adamson and I write in the introduction to our recent anthology, Ecocriticism and Indigenous Studies: Conversations from Earth to Cosmos (2016), argues for clear sighted understandings of multi-faceted human/more-than-human relationships that exist outside of binaries imposed by Western notions of progress . Similarly, Steven Loft, coeditor of Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art, writes of an Indigenous media cosmology that is replete with life and spirit, inclusive of beings, thought, prophecy, and the underlying connectedness of all things and that is not predicated on Western foundations of thought (xvi). Calder extends such Indigenous worldviews of connectedness to cinema and animation in particular

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The media: an introduction, is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of media studies, cultural studies, communication studies, journalism, film studies, the sociology of the media, popular culture and other related subjects

Reflections On Teaching Chinese Language Films At American Colleges

“Film Studies” has become one of the fastest developing disciplines at liberal arts colleges in the United States since the early 1990s. Many factors have contributed to the growth of this new teaching field, among which is the fact that new generations of college students are more accustomed than ever before to visual learning due to the influence of media technology. Also with the growth of global studies, “film” is widely used as “cultural text” through which students learn about other national histories, cultures, and customs in a visualized way that is different from conventional text-reading. Chinese language cinema, with perspectives and content distinctive from Western films, has become an innovative point in the development of Chinese studies curricula. China’s fast-paced economic development and the emergence of the Chinese cinematic movements (so-called “New Waves”) of the mid-1980s have also played critical roles in drawing increased attention to Chinese cinema in classrooms in the United States

3D UK? 3D History and the Absent British Pioneers

The recent television ‘rediscovery’ of a small cohort of 1950s British 3D films (and the producers who made them) has offered a new route into considering how the historical stories told about 3D film have focused almost exclusively on the American experience, eliding other national contexts. This article challenges both the partiality of existing academic histories of 3D, and the specific popular media narratives that have been constructed around the British 3D pioneers. Offering a rebuttal of those narratives and an expansion of them based around primary archival research, the article considers how the British 3D company Stereo Techniques created a different business and production model based around non-fiction short 3D films that stand in contrast to the accepted view of 3D as an American feature film novelty. Through an exploration of the depiction (and absence) of these 3D pioneers from existing media histories, the article argues for a revision to both 3D studies and British cinema history

Effect of surface modification on single-walled carbon nanotube retention and transport in saturated and unsaturated porous media

This work investigated the effect of different surface modification methods, including oxidization, surfactant coating, and humic acid coating, on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) stability and their mobility in granular porous media under various conditions. Characterization and stability studies demonstrated that the three surface modification methods were all effective in solubilizing and stabilizing the SWNTs in aqueous solutions. Packed sand column experiments showed that although the three surface medication methods showed different effect on the retention and transport of SWNTs in the columns, all the modified SWNTs were highly mobile. Compared with the other two surface modification methods, the humic acid coating method introduced the highest mobility to the SWNTs. While reductions in moisture content in the porous media could promote the retention of the surface modified SWNTs in some sand columns, results from bubble column experiment suggested that only oxidized SWNTs were retention in unsaturated porous media through attachment on air–water interfaces. Other mechanisms such as grain surface attachment and thin-water film straining could also be responsible for the retention of the SWNTs in unsaturated porous media. An advection–dispersion model was successfully applied to simulate the experimental data of surface modified SWNT retention and transport in porous media

Something Wyrd: Folk Horror, Folklore and British Television

Television schedules in 1970s Britain were so full of with stories involving folkloric narratives featuring paganism, witchcraft, stone circles and ghosts that such tales account for many hundreds of hours of programming. These often eerie series, episodes and teleplays had lasting effects on audiences and on makers of film and television today like Ben Wheatley (Kill List, 2011) Mark Gatiss (The Tractate Middoth, 2013) and Jeremy Dyson (Ghost Stories, 2017) whose work often distinctly references British 1970s television. My research examines how folklore is communicated in British television during the 1970s and the reasons for its continued impact. Television narratives like these are now beginning to be widely referred to as 'folk horror', coined in 2003 by director Piers Haggard to describe his film Blood on Satan's Claw (1971). Haggard's film is now canonised as one of the 'holy triumvirate' of folk-horror films alongside Witchfinder General (1968) and The Wicker Man (1973). A revival of interest in them and other, related media texts has gained 'folk horror' (and what I refer to as the 'wyrd') status as a subgenre and increasing attention from both cult and academic audiences alike. However, two elements have yet to gain much serious academic attention to date: the importance of television folk horror and the folklore of folk horror. I consider the importance of how "mass media contributes to the maintenance and creation of folklore" (Schenda, 1992: 29), examining television as a form of mass-mediated folklore: what folkloric tropes and legends were propagated by British 1970s television, how they were portrayed and why they have had significant impact and influence on future generations of media creators. Combining folkloristics with screen studies, I propose to highlight the significance of television in the communication of folklore and how this continues to affect the cultural development of folklore

You Need the Words?: Portrayals of Romantic Anxiety in Film

Viewers’ interpretations of characters with anxious attitudes in romantic relationships can affect their opinions on what constitutes appropriate relationship behavior. This paper analyzes the impact of media on people through a literature review and offers an explanation of different portrayals of romantic anxiety in film: the language used to describe characters and characters’ ends. The films studied - Sunset Boulevard, Sid and Nancy, Hard Core Logo, Burnt Money, and The Hustler - all showed a pattern where a character with romantic anxiety was mistreated by the storyline or other characters, and most of these characters meet their end through suicide or murder. The impact of these types of negative portrayals have not yet been explored, but similar studies find that viewers watch films to learn the norms of their community (Levy, 1990), and negative portrayals of romantic anxiety could lead to negative effects for anxious individuals. Further studies using questionnaires and focus groups are recommended in order to better understand the impact of these messages, viewer awareness, and sources of exposure

Ex-cinema: from a theory of experimental film and video [Akira Mizuta Lippit]

Experimental and avant-garde aesthetics are one of the more demanding areas to grasp in film and media studies; one that challenges notions of subjectivity, spectatorship and medium that seem sound in the contemplation of a wider cinema. It often shares much with other disciplines, as the objects of study themselves look outward to philosophy, art history and cultural theory. Furthermore, it pushes against prescriptive critical attempts to historicise and delineate. But Akira Mizuta Lippit’s recent Ex-Cinema: From a Theory of Experimental Film and Video does not seek to provide another history of experimental cinema. ..

Sex in the city: the rise of soft-erotic film culture in Cinema Leopold, Ghent, 1945-1954

Since the 1990s, film studies saw a disciplinary shift from approaches favoring a textual and ideological analysis of films to a broader understanding of the socio-cultural history of cinema under the banner of new cinema history. This turn not only allowed for ‘niche’ research domains to flourish such as film economics or cinema memory research, or for new empirical and critical methodologies to be applied to film and cinema history. This change in researching and writing film/cinema history also shed light on previously marginalized, neglected or uncharted film cultures and histories, burgeoning scholarship in for instance (s)exploitation cinema. This contribution examines a peculiar part of post-war local film culture in the Belgian city of Ghent, more precisely the one around the city-center soft-erotic cinema Cinema Leopold (1945-54). The research is based on a programming and box-office database compiled from archival sources and contextualized by other data (internal and external correspondence, posters,…) coming from the business archive of Octave Bonnevalle, Cinema Leopold’s founding pater familias (material kept in the State Archives of Belgium; RAB/B70/1928-1977). The database now contains information on 625 film titles shown between 1945 and 1954, out of which 233 were unidentified (due to lack of information). Although the database is at times crippled by source inconsistencies, it is extremely rich in documenting the everyday practices of a cinema that gradually turned into a soft-erotic movie theater. The database allows for some remarkable findings concerning shifts in the origin of films, their production years, genres, censorship and popularity. The key finding is that Cinema Leopold started out after the Second World War with a child-friendly, mainstream Hollywood-oriented film program, as did most cinemas in Ghent, but its profile slowly tilted towards more mature audiences and provocative film genres. These included French ‘risqué’ feature films containing some forms of nudity like Perfectionist/Un Grand Patron (Ciampi, 1951) and documentaries on venereal diseases like the successful Austrian Creeping Poison/Schleichendes Gift (Wallbrück, 1946), but also auteur movies such as Bergman’s Port of Call/Hamnstad (1948) were shown. It is interesting how Leopold walked a fine line between innovative, bold European art-house cinema, soft-erotic ‘didactic’ movies and flat-out commercial soft-porn. By 1954, Leopold had gathered a loyal crowd, which kept the cinema alive until 1981 despite the several law suits and trials. This micro-history offers a remarkable example of the post-war flourishing of alternative, yet profit-driven cinema circuits, riddled with media controversies and censorship

Investing in Youth Media: A Guide for Grantmakers

Investing in Youth Media is a compilation of success stories, lessons, and guidance for grantmakers interested in being part of the vibrant and growing field of youth media. It is a tool to help funders consider the value of youth media in connection to program areas such as civic engagement, the arts, education, youth development, and journalism.Why are funders becoming interested in youth media? Youth media organizations offer a broad impact that belies their often small sizes and even smaller budgets. They bring together youth development and social justice in a way that is both energizing and authentic. They offer new models for educating young people who have lost interest in school, bring youth voices to public attention, and offer opportunities for artistic exploration and career experiences.Programs are built on the best practices of positive youth development, teaching young people new skills and empowering them to make smart decisions, explore new horizons, and work toward their goals. Program graduates leave with skills in interviewing, researching, and storytelling. They learn how to develop an idea and stick with it until they get the project done. These skills become important for their professional and personal lives.At the same time, youth media organizations can engage young people in social justice issues that are important to them. Whether it's inequity in education, foster care conditions, or the politics of immigration, young people explore the landscape, develop opinions, and share those opinions, along with their personal experiences, through film, radio, and the printed word. Although they are still too young to vote, these young people have found a way to impact the issues that affect their lives.While most funders do not have a defined youth media program, many find that youth media is an effective component of their grantmaking strategy. The case studies that follow introduce youth media programs supported by a variety of small local funders and large international philanthropies. They illustrate the links between youth media and six other program areas: youth development, social change, youth voice, education, journalism, media arts, and field building.The resource list at the end of this publication includes contact information for all of the youth media organizations listed here as well as intermediaries and others who can help you consider, develop, and launch a youth media philanthropy program