CFP: Old Money: The Economics of the Ancient World on Film (7/1/13; 11/20-24/13)

From: Cynthia Miller <[email protected]>

CALL FOR PAPERS
“Old Money: The Economics of the Ancient World on Film”

An area of multiple panels for the 2013 Film & History Conference on
Making Movie$: The Figure of Money On and Off the Screen, November 20-24
Madison Concourse Hotel (Madison, WI)
www.filmandhistory.org/The2013FilmHistoryConference.php
DEADLINE for abstracts: July 1, 2013

AREA: “Old Money: The Economics of the Ancient World on Film”

The splendors of Greece, the glories of Rome, and the riches of Egypt have
long captured the imaginations of artists, scholars, and fans. And the
representation of wealth, money, and prosperity has been a critical feature
of film and television recreations of the ancient world from their earliest
inceptions (The Last Days of Pompeii, 1913) to their more recent
incarnations (HBO’s Rome, 2005-07). How have on-screen visions of the
ancient world used wealth or poverty as a tool for thinking about social
inequality (Intolerance, 1917), the construction of power and authority
(Troy, 2004), or ancient regimes themselves (Caligula, 1979)? How have
Hollywood studios used cinematic representations of the ancient world to
shape the audience’s own sense of wealth and prosperity? To what extent
does Hollywood see itself as Old Money? How, for example, is the size of
the cast and set (Land of the Pharaohs, 1955) or the deployment of new
technologies—Technicolor (Quo Vadis, 1951), CinemaScope (The Robe, 1953),
MGM Camera 65 (Ben Hur, 1959), and CGI (Gladiator, 2000)—connected to our
economic perceptions of the ancient world, to its class structures or its
racial and gender divisions? When and how is money, whether as medium or
message, a lesson in ancient history?

This area, comprising multiple panels, will treat all aspects of money,
wealth, and prosperity in films and television programs about the ancient
world. Papers may explore the representation of wealth in antiquity, or the
economics of representing antiquity in film and television. Possible topics
include, but are not limited to, the following:

•       Cinematic depictions of wealth/money/prosperity in antiquity
•       Economies of money/power/authority in the ancient world in cinema
and television
•       The wealth/money/prosperity of antiquity represented in films set
in the present day
•       The wealth/money/prosperity of the studio systems in representing
antiquity
•       Economies of modern cinematic/televisual productions about the
ancient world

Please send your 200-word proposal by e-mail to the Area Chair by July 1,
2013:

Lorenzo F. Garcia Jr., Area Chair
Old Money: The Economics of the Ancient World on Film
University of New Mexico
Email: [email protected]

Proposals for complete panels (three related presentations) are also
welcome, but they must include an abstract and contact information,
including an e-mail address, for each presenter. For updates and
registration information about the upcoming meeting, see the Film & History
website (www. filmandhistory.org).