.png)
CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
The past decade has seen an explosion of new voices in the film and television industry. With this new generation of storytellers comes increased social consciousness and an awareness that representation doesn’t just mean featuring people of color on screen; representation means recognizing that diverse stories are owned by the communities they portray. For the first time, writers, directors, producers, casting agents, studio executives, and more are asking, “Whose story is this, and who has the right to tell it?”
The answers are not always clear-cut. Can white writers tell Black, African and African-American stories? Is it appropriate for actors or actresses to wear prosthetics that make them appear heavier? Physically disabled? Blind? How far outside his or her own ethnic group can a screenwriter reach? Can other Black actors portray African characters? Can a cisgender screenwriter author a story featuring a transgender protagonist? Can a transgender writer author a story featuring a cisgender protagonist? As academics and practitioners, we must responsibly guide our students and ourselves toward ethical practices.
This one-day conference will explore these challenging issues through a series of presentations and discussions. We aim to engender constructive conversation and develop a framework for addressing our students’ most pressing concerns around the ethics and politics of representation.
The conference is free.
Click Here to Register
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Keynote (9:00 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST)
Dr. Phillipe Copeland, Boston U., Boston, MA, USA
• “Race, Antiracism and Representation”
Narrative Fiction Panel (9:20 a.m. PST/12:20 p.m. EST)
Francisco Menendez, UNLV, Las Vegas, NV, USA
• “Finding Your Story: Claiming the Specifity of Representation in Developing Lived Experiences”
Pavel Jech, Chapman U., Orange, CA, USA
• “Cultural enhancement or cultural imperialism? The benefits and perils of international
co-productions and script consultancy”
Michelle K. Sugihara, Executive Director of CAPE, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Break
Keynote (12:00 p.m. PST/3:00 p.m. EST)
Laura Waters Hinson, American U., Washington, DC, USA
Documentary Panel (12:20 p.m. PST/3:20 p.m. EST)
Theo Xenophontos, York U., Toronto, Canada
https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodore-xenophontos-176400283/?originalSubdomain=ca
• “Shaping History: The Ethics of Documenting One’s Own Community”
Rebecca Ohene-Asah, NAFTI, Accra, Ghana
https://imaginingfutures.world/people/rebecca-ohene-asah/
• “Ethics and Representation in the Era of Smartphone Self-Portrait Filmmaking”
Christine Fugate, Chapman U., Orange, CA, USA
• “Does Essentialism Apply to Documenting Those Who Live with Disabilities?”