FilmAsia 2015 - Asian Conference on Film & Documentary 2015

Power remains one of the most contested, debated, omnipresent yet ungraspable of concepts. While the fact of power remains constant, changes in political, social, economic and cultural conditions require us as scholars to periodically take stock of, analyze, and trace the workings and origins of power. And while it has long been accepted that literature and literary activity have never been immune to the functions and effects of power, new alignments in public and private spheres require us to interrogate how film, production, reception and study construct and resist power.
The power of film to inspire, coerce, or lead astray is subject to constant discussion within and outside the academy. Issues of censorship, responsibility, ownership and control are evergreens and cause conflicts from the individual level within families, to major diplomatic spats between country leaders, such as over the recent US film, “The Interview”.
While producing a film is an act of power, so is watching, as interpretation is an act of power over the film, while theories of interpretation hold power over the intellect and imagination of the viewer. Those who teach, research and curate films also exercise power, though how this power is wielded is colored by perceptions of those within and outside academia. For students, the film studies teacher is a figure of power who gets to select what, as well as how, it is viewed and studied.
Power can also seem too large and unwieldy a concept to gain any purchase on, thus any analysis of power can create a sense of powerlessness, not to mention dissatisfaction at the necessarily arbitrary nature of academic analyses. But choosing which aspect of power to analyze is an act of power in itself, one that invites further interrogations of the moral and ethical dimensions of power.
We expect this open and enduring theme to excite a number of stimulating research paths, and look forward to their outcomes.
We look forward to seeing you at FilmAsia 2015!