Virtual Reality and Immersive Representation in Recent Refugee Narratives

Virtual reality (VR) offers an exciting new way to represent crises of forced migration. Like many new technologies, though, VR risks exacerbating the challenges that exist in more traditional modes of representation, particularly that of documentary film. This essay examines two VR projects that depict migrants attempting to cross borders: Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible) by Alejandro González Iñárritu and We Wait, co-produced by Aardman Studios and the BBC. The two projects differ in technique but share many characteristics as they attempt to encourage empathy in the viewer through the use of immersive technology.

Modes of Self-Representation in the Images Collectively Produced by Migrants in Lésbos Island: Natives of the New World

Natives of the New World is a short documentary film shot on cell phones by the Kino Mosaik collective, which was founded in Lesbos Island, Greece, in 2018. The migrants who were members of the collective tried to transform the period when they were stuck in Lesbos waiting for the decision on their asylum applications into a constitutive process. Kino Mosaik’s main goal was to oppose the passive, apolitical, and victimized migrant image created by mainstream media and many artistic representations. The collective thought that this was possible only from their perspective, and they made this film as an action against stereotypical representational systems. In the short documentary, not only are the difficult conditions that migrants have to deal with made visible but also the forms of collective resistance they have developed against them. This article will analyse Natives of The New World by comparing it with the representational tools it opposes.

Interview with Jack Santino

Isabel Machado interviews Jack Santino on Public Performances: Studies in the Carnivalesque and Ritualesque (2017). Interview Date: Sep 17, 2020 Dr. Jack Santino is professor of folklore and popular culture and has served as director of the Bowling Green Center for Popular Culture Studies. He was the Alexis de Tocqueville Distinguished Professor at the University of Paris, Sorbonne, 2010–2011. He was a Fulbright Scholar to Northern Ireland and has conducted research in Spain and France. His documentary film on Pullman Porters, Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle, received four Emmy awards. His research centers on rituals and celebrations, with a particular focus on carnival and political and public ritual as reflective of political, social, and cultural identity. He is the author of numerous books and articles. (Maybe also mention that he is in the JFS board?)

Emissaries from other worlds: Asteroids, science and mythology in The Color Out of Space and the film Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds

In this paper, we suggest a speculative comparison between the short story The Color Out of Space (Howard Phillips Lovecraft, 1927) and the documentary film Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds (Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer, 2020). We explore the similarities between Herzog’s specific interest in extreme phenomena of Nature and Lovecraftian Cosmicism. We observe that both authors have, to a certain extent, compatible views on the relationship between humans and nature: Herzog and Lovecraft seem to be interested in identifying and investigating humanity’s difficulty in coping with their insignificance when facing catastrophic events caused by indifferent Nature; both chose the same kind of landscape (iced lands, volcanic areas) and extreme natural phenomena (like meteorite falls); and they show a particular interest in characters connected to scientific experiences, and obsessed (even sometimes driven to madness) with the mysteries of nature. Our analysis does not suggest a direct influence of Lovecraft on Herzog, but a productive coincidence that can shed light on the film Fireball and its possible Lovecraftian resonances.

Resonance. (Re)forming an Artistic Identity through Intercultural Dialogue and Collaboration

This artistic doctoral research examines how the third space emerging from intercultural dialogue and transcultural collaboration can be a catalyst for new musical discoveries, intercultural humility, and the (re)forming of artistic identities. The body of this project is centred around three doctoral concerts, a CD/LP recording, and a documentary film which took place between 2016 and 2021. In addition, I draw on the embodied experience of a five-year period that I spent living and collaborating with musicians and dancers in Tanzania and Zambia prior to the doctoral project.As a double bass player, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, I place myself in a series of different musical and multi-arts contexts, engaging in dialogue with musicians, dancers, and visual artists from Brazil, Colombia, Estonia, Finland, France, Madagascar, Mexico, Poland, Sápmi, Tanzania, the UK and Zambia. Various solo, duo, and ensemble settings act as case studies to examine how this process takes place, the new knowledge gained from the collaborations and their resulting artistic outcomes, and the effects of intercultural dialogue, collaboration, and co-creation on my own artistic identity. The instruments and forms of artistic expression used by my collaborators include the Brazilian berimbau, Chinese guzheng, dance, live electronics, experimental instrument making, Finnish Saarijärvi kantele, Sámi joik, vocals, percussion, live visuals, image manipulation, animation, photography and film.The key concepts that I investigate in this research are: artistic identity, global citizenship, hybridity, interculturalism, intercultural humility, liminality, third space theory, and resonance, the latter being viewed both as a physical phenomenon and as an approach to thinking about the ways in which we connect with the world around us. This research contributes to new knowledge and understandings in the areas of artistic identity formation, intercultural collaboration and interculturalism in music education through the interweaving of artistic processes, audio, video, photographs, artistic outcomes and text.Findings emerge in terms of new musical discoveries that surface from the dynamic third space created through transcultural collaboration; the expanding and deepening of musicianship through intercultural dialogue and collaboration; the interconnected nature of interculturalism in music and its reliance on openness, empathy, dialogue and constantnegotiation with sonic material, people and place; and the crucial role of fluidity and resonance in forming a personal artistic identity.Further research outcomes include new techniques and the expansion of the sonic palette of the double bass, enabled by developing custom-made attachments, preparations and electronic manipulation. The complete scope of this doctoral project includes four artistic components (three concerts and a recording), a documentary film and an artistic doctoral thesis comprising two peer-reviewed articles and an integrative chapter, all housed within the main multi-media exposition, Resonance: (Re)forming an Artistic Identity through Intercultural Dialogue and Collaboration.

The Shift in the Childbirth Paradigm in Latin America and its Socio-Political Implications

The article tackles the issue of the shift in the model of childbirth taking place in Latin American countries. Based on the analysis of 2012 documentary film Nacer by Jorge Caballero, audiovisual material from organizations dedicated to maternity care, and selected documents and legislation it focuses on values, significances, normative principles and power relations in technological and natural childbirth models. I argue that a shift from the technological paradigm to the natural paradigm of childbirth may contribute to the abolition of patriarchal structures perpetuating violence, the women’s empowerment and the construction of a society supported by the values of respect and love for living beings.

Literary Specifics of Biographical Film Story: On the Issue of Genre Heredity

The genre heredity concept is articulated on the analysis example of I. Drach’s screen version of the biographical film story “I’m coming to you” (1970), dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Lesya Ukrainka. The film is marked by innovative approach of I. Drach as a scriptwriter to the image of the poetess. Contrary to the tradition of documentary film to interpret her biography in a certain matrix key (as a fighter and revolutionary), Drach tried to identify Lesya Ukrainka primarily as a private individual, as the woman who knew how to sacrifice herself for the sake of love. Without aiming to show in detail the entire biography of the poetess, the author of the film story chose only a small fragment of her life – four years 1897–1901. In terms of biopic genre heredity, the article observes how this biographical film presents possible ways of processing and contamination of available documentary material (letters, memoirs, reminiscences of contemporaries) and integral creation by Lesya Ukrainka (her poetry, translations, renditions). Hence, the biopic on the basis of multi-genre text material appears as a kind of intertextual plexus. At the same time, the film pays much attention to the feelings, thoughts, creative impulses and state of mind of the heroine. By analogy with the poetics of literary writing, the form of the poetess’ inner monologue was chosen in accordance with the portrait film genre. It is clear that through the prism of Lesya’s life and creative experience the personal attitude of the poet I. Drach emerges towards understanding and reproducing the figure of creative personality in art: the author’ vision logically leads to those biographical episodes that in the existential sense appear the most significant.