32nd International Film History Conference

Dr. Strangelove Or Happiness from the Clouds
Film Between Political Comedy and Social Satire

Announcement and Call for Papers

(pdf-Version)

20 - 23 November 2019
at the University Guest House (Rothenbaumchausse 34)

cinefest 2019 is an exploration into the diversity of this critical and entertaining genre, looking into a spectrum of freedoms and limitations created by a mixture of comedy and criticism. Is satire limited to political themes or does it also offer a chance to laugh at the absurd state of society? Does satire always work against a system or could it also be utilized as a form of propaganda?
Discussions will be based on classics such as Schünzel’s play on authority in AMPHITRYON. AUS DEN WOLKEN KOMMT DAS GLÜCK (1935), Lubitsch’s anti-Nazi satire TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1941/42), or ¬– from the height of the cold-war era – WIR KELLERKINDER (1960) with comedian Wolfgang Neuss, Wilder’s ONE, TWO, THREE (1961) and Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE (1962).
Uniforms, rulers, or Hitler as ridiculed revenant are repeatedly the target of satire in films such as DER HAUPTMANN VON KÖPENICK (1931 / 1956), THE DEATH OF STALIN (2017). Often, media places itself in the focus: in Lumet’s NETWORK (1976), Scorsese’s KING OF COMEDY (1981/82) or the affair of the Hitler diaries in SCHTONK! (1991/92).
In East Germany the STACHELTIER short films polemicized against NATO and West Germany, while also using satire to offer a (gentle) criticism of internal shortcomings.
We will also look onto Czech cinema and its expression of satirical criticism, ranging from Jaroslav Hašek’s Good Soldier Schwejk to Vera Chytilová’s exuberant rebellion against authority in SEDMIKRÁSKY (1966).

The 32nd International Conference of German Film Heritage is an integral part of the festival, where the topics of the festival will be explored in presentations and discussions.

Possible topics for the conference are:
- Satire: Definition and how it is used in films
- Media satire
- Capitalism satire
- Bureaucracy satire
- Political and social criticism through satire
- Satirical handling of authorities / military
- Satire as propaganda
- Satire and exile
- Satire in the Cold War
- Satire in socialist countries

Any further suggestions are welcome.

Presentations are limited to ca. 20 minutes, followed by a discussion. Conference languages are German or English. Presenters will receive a free accreditation to the conference, which also entitles them to attend festival film screenings from 20-24 November, as well as the festival catalogue. As always, we will do our best to support presenters from out of town with a travel fund. Following the conference, presentations will be published in a book (deadline for the articles: 31 December 2019; Release date: Fall 2020).

You are welcome to send suggestions for presentations in the form of an abstract (about 1500 characters) and a short biography to kongress(at)cinegraph.de. Deadline is the 1st of June 2019.

In preparation for the festival and conference there will be an internal screening 9 – 12 May 2019 in Berlin. For more information please contact kongress(at)cinegraph.de.

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For more information, please contact:

CineGraph e.V., Schillerstr. 43, D - 22767 Hamburg
Tel.: +49-(0)40-352194 / Fax: +49-(0)40-345864
email: kongress(at)cinegraph.de

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31st International Film History Conference (to the archive)
30th International Film History Conference (to the archive)
29th International Film History Conference (to the archive)
28th International Film History Conference (to the archive)
27th International Film History Conference (to the archive)
26th International Film History Conference (to the archive)
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24th International Film History Conference (to the archive)
23rd International Film History Conference (to the archive)
22nd International Film History Conference (to the archive)
21st International Film History Conference (to the archive)
20th International Film History Conference (to the archive)
19th International Film History Confernce (to the archive)
18th International Film History Conference (to the archive)

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