CFP: Transgressive Filmmakers and Their Films

DEADLINE for abstracts: June 1, 2016

Cinematic transgression is about directors challenging or overcoming the status quo in their films, most often through shock and shlock to wake slumbering viewers with (sometimes hidden) social commentary. While each generation has spawned new notions or means of transgression in film, some have remained constant: sex, violence, gore, sacrilege, drugs, race, gender performance, etc. These films frequently are made by a director who is also an embodiment of transgression, whether or not they work within the mainstream system.

How have our constructions of cinematic taboos and transgressions shifted over time, and how do these influence the wider culture? When and how do cinematic transgressors become cinematic (or cultural) heroes and icons? Can a member of the status quo create transgressive work if the product is from their imagination or under their creative control?

This area invites papers that explore contemporary directors (considered, or who could be considered, transgressive), their films, and the ways in which transgression is portrayed (both as a director and their films). Possible themes and topics include, but are not limited to:

Portrayals of sexuality
Gore, splatter flicks, “roughies,” and exploitation
Gender expression and identity
Technical elements, including setting, scenery, costuming, etc., and transgression
Transgressive directors and the influence on their movies
Comedy as a safe exploration of the transgressive
Heteronormative directors challenging the status quo
The (un)identified threat in the status quo
John Waters, David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Corman, Ken Russell, and other transgressive figures
From transgression to mainstream and back: selling out and going off the rails

Proposals for complete panels (three related presentations) are also welcome, but they must include an abstract and contact information, including an e-mail address, for each presenter. For updates and registration information about the upcoming meeting, see the Film & History website (www.filmandhistory.org).

Please e-mail your 200-word proposal by June 1, 2016, to the area chair:

Michelle Martinez
Associate Professor, Sam Houston State University
mmartinez@shsu.edu