Early Cinema in the Balkans and the Near East: Beginnings to Interwar Period
Athens, Greece: 5-7 June, 2015
Conference Programme
Friday, June 5
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Central Building (Propylaea), Eleftheriou Venizelou 30 (Panepistimiou Street)
Room1: Giannis Drakopoulos
Room 2: Alkis Argyriades
09:00 Registration & welcome
10.00-11:45 Parallel Sessions
(Room 1) I. Approaches to Early Greek Cinema
[Chair: Vassiliki Tsitsopoulou (University of Indiana, Bloomington)]
i. Nick Poulakis (National and Kapodistrian University, Athens), “Music in Early Greek Cinema: The Case of The Refugee Girl/I Prosfigopoula (1938)”
ii. Christina Chronopoulou (Independent Scholar), “Workers’ Profiles in the Theater and Cinema of Interwar Greece”
iii. Mary Kapi (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki), “The Greek/Turkish Film O Kakos Dromos (1933): An Example of a Failed Transition from Theater to Cinema”
iv. Anna Poupou (Hellenic Open University), “Space and Narration in Some Early Greek Films”
(Room 2) II. Early Cinema and Urban Modernity
[Chair: Canan Balan (İstanbul Şehir University)]
i. Çağan Duran (İstanbul Şehir University), “The Role of White Russians in Early Turkish Cinema”
ii. Golbarg Rekabtalaei (University of Toronto), “Mapping the City in Film: Early Cinema and the Spatial Imagination of Tehran”
iii. Manolis Arkolakis (Hellenic Open University), “Living Pictures and the Formation of Modern Life in Athens”
iv. Nezih Erdoğan (İstanbul Şehir University), “What Went Wrong: Accidents, Failures and Unpleasantries of Early Cinema in İstanbul”
11:45 Coffee break
12:15-13:30
(Room 1) Keynote address
Dina Iordanova (University of St Andrews), “How Do We Tell the Story? Alternative Geographies, Entangled Histories, Triumphant Nationalisms”
13:30 Break
15:00 - 16:45 Parallel Sessions
(Room 1) III. Tracing the National
[Chair: Hamid Naficy (Northwestern University)]
i. Panayiota Konstantinakou (Independent Scholar), “Early Twentieth-Century Greek Tableaux Vivants: Staging the Nation”
ii. Elizabeth F. Thompson (University of Virginia), “Gender at the Imperial Boundary in Early Arab Cinema”
iii. Deborah A. Starr (Cornell University), “Crimes of Mistaken Identity in Togo Mizrahi’s Alexandria”
iv. Marian Ţuţui (“G. Oprescu” Institute of Art History, Bucharest), “Evidence and Speculation on the Manakis Brothers and Sigmund Weinberg as Pioneers of Balkan Cinema”
(Room 2) ΙV. Cinematic Otherness
[Chair: Viola Shafik (Humboldt University of Berlin & Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)]
i. Vassiliki Tsitsopoulou (University of Indiana, Bloomington), “Portrait of the Sultan: 1920’s Cinema and Its Ottoman Subjects”
ii. Peyami Çelikcan (İstanbul Şehir University), “Cinematic Views of the Ottoman World by European Cinematographers”
iii. Henriette Bornkamm (University of Zurich), “The Orient in Early Egyptian Film: Self-Image and Perception by Others, 1920s-1940s”
iv. Andronika Martonova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences), “Asia and Asian Cinema on the Bulgarian Screen”
16:45 Coffee break
17:15-18:45 Parallel Sessions
(Room 1) V. Early Cinema and the Balkans: Theory and History
[Chair: Manolis Arkolakis (Hellenic Open University)]
i. Irini Stathi (University of the Aegean), “Early Cinema as Re-Interpretation of the Past: Identity and Origin in the Balkan Context”
ii. Petar Kardjilov, (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences), “The First Filmings in the Balkans, 1896-1900”
iii. Leonidas Liambeys (film producer), “Making the Documentary
War & Peace in the Balkans”
(Room 2) VI. Uses of the Cinematic Image
[Chair: Nezih Erdoğan (İstanbul Şehir University)]
i. Andrei Gadalean (University of St Andrews), “Let’s Get Civilised: Sexuality and Film Censorship in Interwar Romania”
ii. Özde Çeliktemel-Thomen (University College London), “Understanding Early Cinema Regulations in the Ottoman Empire, 1896-1909”
iii. Alexander Yanakiev (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences), “Routes, Passengers, Movies”
18:45 Break
Screenings: Greek Film Archive
Iera Odos 48 & Megalou Alexandrou 134-136
20:00
Meteora (Dorizas, 1924, Greek Film Archive, 4.12 min)
Tripoli (unspecified, EYE, 4.22 min)
Constantine (1913, EYE, 6.41 min)
Egypt (1910, EYE, 9.09 min)
On the Bosphorus (1912, EYE, 3.10 min)
Images from Piraeus (1920, EYE, 12.43 min)
Dances from Ouled (1902, EYE, 1.44 min)
With live sounds and music by 8HM2/3, Parallel Universe & Christos A. Goussios (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki): CONVERSATIONS between sound, music and short silent films
21:30 Conference dinner
Saturday, June 6
Conference Programme
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Central Building (Propylaea), Eleftheriou Venizelou 30 (Panepistimiou Street)
Room1: Giannis Drakopoulos
Room 2: Alkis Argyriades
09:00 Registration
09:30-11:15 Parallel Sessions
(Room 1) VII. Memory and History in Early Serbian Cinema
i. Nevena Dakovic (University of Arts, Belgrade), “Stanislav Krakov: The Great War Between Novel and Film”
ii. Aleksandra Milovanović (University of Arts, Belgrade), “DVD Collections and Historical Memory: Renewal and Dissemination of History in New Media”
iii. Mila Turajlic (University of Belgrade and SciencesPo), “National Identity and Early Serbian Historical Film”
iv. Dario Vidojković (University of Regensburg), “Karadjordje and Sa verom u Boga: Representations of National History in Early Serbian Film”
(Room 2) VIII. Issues in Preservation, Digital Media and Archival Memory
[Chair: Marian Tutui (“G. Oprescu” Institute of Art History, Bucharest)]
i. Maria Komninos (Greek Film Archive & National and Kapodistrian University, Athens) “Pioneers, Dreamers, Entrepreneurs in the Silent Era of Greek Cinema”
ii. Dilek Kaya and Sencer Yeralan (Yaşar University),“Cinema in Multiethnic Kordon (Quay) in the Early Twentieth Century: Disseminating Research Results through Digital Media”
iii. Geli Mademli (University of Amsterdam), “The Map and the Territory: Archiving the History of Balkan Film”
iv. Bogdan Movileanu (Romanian Film Archive) “Old and Precious Early Romanian Cinema”
11:15 Coffee break
11:35 -12:50
(Room 1) Keynote address
Viola Shafik (Humboldt University of Berlin & Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), “Badr Lama’s Patterned Vest or The Challenges of Writing a ‘National’ Film History”
12:50 Break
13:30-15:00 Parallel Sessions
(Room 1) IX. Colonial Cinema, Greek Islands
i. Andreas Guidi (Humboldt University), “From ‘Miserable Levantine Village’ to ‘Splendour of Italic Civilization:’ Italian Cinema(s) and Fascist Propaganda in Rhodes, 1920-1940”
ii. Christina Kouppi (University of Ioannina), “The Origins of Film in Cyprus: The Case of Three Films During the British Administration”
iii. Jonathan Stubbs (Cyprus International University), “‘An Island That Is Hardly Known:’ Cyprus (1929) and the Showcasing of Empire”
(Room 2) X. Visuality, Cinematic Perception and Intertextualities
[Chair: Dina Iordanova (University of St Andrews)]
i. Serkan Şavk (Izmir University of Economics), “Eremya Chelebi Komurjian, Ottoman Istanbul, and Filmmaker’s Gaze: Expanding the Pre-History of Cinema to a Textual Narrative from the 17th Century”
ii. Canan Balan (İstanbul Şehir University), “Islam, Death and Early Cinema: Film as Metaphor in the Teachings of Said Nursi”
iii. Ana Grgić (University of St Andrews), “Haptical Vision: Balkan Legacies on the Perception of Moving Images and the Crisis of Modernity”
15:00 Coffee break
15:15 - 16:30
(Room 1) Keynote address
Hamid Naficy (Northwestern University) “Theorizing the Artisanal Production Mode: The Case of Iranian Silent Cinema”
16:30 Break
Screenings: Greek Film Archive
Iera Odos 48 & Megalou Alexandrou 134-136
21:00
The Land of Motzi (Paul Calinescu, 1939, Romanian Film Archive, 18 min)
Belgrade (unspecified, EYE, 12.09 min)
Sarajevo (unspecified, EYE, 5.30 min)
At the Turkish Front (unspecified, EYE, 2.59 min)
Among Pine Forests in Rhodes (unspecified, EYE, 4.11 min)
Smyrna (unspecified, EYE, 2.44 min)
Balkan Wars (1912-13, EYE, 9.30 min)
Haplea (Marin Iorda, 1928, animation, Romanian Film Archive, 12 min)
With live sounds and music by 8HM2/3, Parallel Universe & Christos A. Goussios (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki): CONVERSATIONS between sound, music and short silent films
22:00 Drinks
Sunday, June 7
Conference Programme
A) Greek Film Archive
Iera Odos 48 & Megalou Alexandrou 134-136
11:00 -12:30
XI. Workshop on Sound and Music for Early Cinema
Christos A. Goussios (Aristotle University, Thessaloniki)
12:30 Break
B) Neraida Floating Museum
15:00-19:00
XII. Roundtable Discussion: "General thoughts on the conference and prospects for the future"
[Moderator: Marian Tutui (“G. Oprescu” Institute of Art History, Bucharest)]
i. Nezih Erdoğan (İstanbul Şehir University)
ii. Dina Iordanova (University of St Andrews)
iii. Hamid Naficy (Northwestern University)
Sightseeing in the Neraida Floating Museum (optional), drinks on board
17:30
Screenings
Manakia Films (Romanian Film Archive, 12 min)
Villar’s Adventures (Joseph Hepp, 1924, Greek Film Archive, music by Minas Alexiadis, 26 min)
Conference Committee
Emmanuel Arkolakis (Hellenic Open University),
Canan Balan (İstanbul Şehir University)]
Maria Chalkou (Filmicon: Journal of Greek Film Studies)
Vassiliki Tsitsopoulou (University of Indiana, Bloomington)
Marian Tutui (“G. Oprescu” Institute of Art History, Bucharest)
Organizational Committee
Emmanuel Arkolakis (Hellenic Open University),
Maria Chalkou (Filmicon: Journal of Greek Film Studies)
Vassiliki Tsitsopoulou (University of Indiana, Bloomington)
Electra Venaki (altcine.com)
