Call for Papers
2006 Film and History League Conference
"The Documentary Tradition"
www.filmandhistory.org
AREA: Sport Documentaries
From the classic and controversial Olympia (1938, Leni Riefenstahl) to the
critical and commercial success of Murderball (2005: Rubin and Shapiro),
sport documentaries represent a significant if under researched aspect of
the documentary tradition. Certainly, documentary filmmakers have long
recognized the sporting domain, whether that be sporting events, athletes,
or sporting cultures, as fertile terrain for telling stories that reach an
audience well beyond the sports aficionado: Hoop Dreams (1994, James) for
example is in the top ten biggest grossing documentaries of all time.
Furthermore, sport documentaries also constitute an increasingly important
part of the burgeoning television sport channel output. As sport continues
to expand and permeate global cultural consciousness, documentaries will
continue to chronicle, critique and celebrate sport by offering us windows
and mirrors on this universal human endeavor.
How do we account for the Sport Documentary? How have particular sport
documentaries engaged with political and social issues, such as nationalism,
gender, race and sexuality? Is it the case that sporting events, as one
critic has argued, lie at the "actuality" end of the documentary spectrum?
Is it useful to talk of the sport documentary as a sub-genre of documentary
film? What is the relationship between: sport and the documentary; between
sport documentaries and sport fiction; and between sport documentaries and
mainstream sport programming? We are inviting submissions on all aspects of
sports documentaries. Deadline for submission is July 25, 2006.
The Film and History League conference details can be found at
www.filmandhistory.org. The meeting will run from 8-12 November, 2006 in
the Dolce Conference Center near the DFW airport. Many subject area venues
are listed on the web page.
Send all inquires and proposals to
Ian McDonald
University of Brighton,
Chelsea School
Denton Road
Eastbourne, UK
BN20 7SP.
Tel: +44 1273 643852
i.mcdonald@bton.ac.uk
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