Conference Review
TRANSMISSIONS: CINEMA/PSYCHOANALYSIS
16-18 September 2008
The conference was inspired by discussions at the CRASSH Psychoanalysis Reading Group, a seminar that is widely recognised for its rigorous high-level interdisciplinary debate, and the participation of academics and psychoanalysts alike. CRASSH had in 2007/8 been participating in an international research network in Psychoanalysis and the Humanities, led by the Institute for Germanic and Romance Studies in London, which sparked off vibrant debate in the area of cultural transmission, as well as the transmissions from or between the visual arts, and in particular, cinema.
Once funding from CRASSH has been secured, the four co-organisers, Isabelle McNeill (Cambridge), Abigail Loxham (Hull), Jenny Chamarette (Cambridge) and Steve Joy (Cambridge) set about building a diverse two-and-a-half day programme of speakers and films, to encourage dialogue between academic theory in cinema and psychoanalysis, and film-artist practice. The conference attracted national and international speakers and filmmakers, from lecturers and researchers in film studies to independent filmmakers and speakers from the film industry. The conference also attracted funding from the AHRC and from Trinity College, Cambridge, which broadened the scope of this exceptional event.
The two keynote speakers, Professor Mieke Bal (University of Amsterdam) and Professor Kaja Silverman (University of California Berkeley) spoke particularly well to the aims of the conference, which were to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue on the future of cinema and psychoanalysis, both together and apart. Both Professors Bal and Silverman have written extensively on psychoanalysis and the cinema, and have pioneered the development of new forms of psychoanalytic criticism, and so it was a pleasure to welcome such eminent speakers to Cambridge. Although ostensibly based in the realm of psychoanalysis, Professor Silverman’s paper focussed on the implications of the revised Orpheus myth for psychoanalytic criticism, and the possibilities of analogical thinking that offered much food for thought in terms of the work of Jean-Luc Godard in his Histoire(s) du Cinéma project. Incorporating the two elements of the conference – theory and praxis, Professor Mieke Bal presented her co-authored film, BECOMING VERA, a radically different ethnographic study of a young girl’s initiation into her multicultural identity, stretching from Paris to Cameroon to Russia.
The screening of Professor Bal’s film took place at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse, and was open to the public, as part of the Cambridge Film Festival. This spirit of openness and broader dialogue was also very much a theme of the conference. The conference’s opening night was another free public screening, this time at CRASSH with the generous support of the Arts Picturehouse, who provided the professional projection equipment that greatly enhanced the viewing experience for the audience. Sarah Turner’s film ECOLOGY was introduced by Professor Elizabeth Cowie of the University of Kent. The film generated very productive discussions on ideas of recycling at the Q&A session with the director after the screening. The conference also successfully battled with the fire that had taken place in the Eurostar tunnel earlier that week, to secure a Q&A session via videolink with the keynote French filmmaker Philippe Grandrieux, after the screening of his astonishing and controversial film, La Vie nouvelle, at the Arts Picturehouse. La Vie nouvelle aroused strong sentiments in the audience, both positive and negative, which initiated a great deal of debate on the moral and ethical issues of being presented with radical violence.
The two keynote speakers, Professor Mieke Bal (University of Amsterdam) and Professor Kaja Silverman (University of California Berkeley) spoke particularly well to the aims of the conference, which were to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue on the future of cinema and psychoanalysis, both together and apart. Both Professors Bal and Silverman have written extensively on psychoanalysis and the cinema, and have pioneered the development of new forms of psychoanalytic criticism, and so it was a pleasure to welcome such eminent speakers to Cambridge. Although ostensibly based in the realm of psychoanalysis, Professor Silverman’s paper focussed on the implications of the revised Orpheus myth for psychoanalytic criticism, and the possibilities of analogical thinking that offered much food for thought in terms of the work of Jean-Luc Godard in his Histoire(s) du Cinéma project. Incorporating the two elements of the conference – theory and praxis, Professor Mieke Bal presented her co-authored film, BECOMING VERA, a radically different ethnographic study of a young girl’s initiation into her multicultural identity, stretching from Paris to Cameroon to Russia.
The screening of Professor Bal’s film took place at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse, and was open to the public, as part of the Cambridge Film Festival. This spirit of openness and broader dialogue was also very much a theme of the conference. The conference’s opening night was another free public screening, this time at CRASSH with the generous support of the Arts Picturehouse, who provided the professional projection equipment that greatly enhanced the viewing experience for the audience. Sarah Turner’s film ECOLOGY was introduced by Professor Elizabeth Cowie of the University of Kent. The film generated very productive discussions on ideas of recycling at the Q&A session with the director after the screening. The conference also successfully battled with the fire that had taken place in the Eurostar tunnel earlier that week, to secure a Q&A session via videolink with the keynote French filmmaker Philippe Grandrieux, after the screening of his astonishing and controversial film, La Vie nouvelle, at the Arts Picturehouse. La Vie nouvelle aroused strong sentiments in the audience, both positive and negative, which initiated a great deal of debate on the moral and ethical issues of being presented with radical violence.
