18-20 September 2014, Trinity College, University of Cambridge

Jointly organized by UCL SSEES and the University of Cambridge, this major conference brings together leading members of the growing international community of scholars working in the field of Russian and Soviet cinema studies, in order to explore and assess potential new research directions in this area. In so doing, it seeks to identify the current state of the scholarly field, to outline the key questions and challenges it faces over the next decade, and to encourage and promote an innovative and forward-looking approach to research in this field.

Invited speakers will indicate, in succinct twelve-minute presentations, or ‘thought statements’, the key questions that their future research will seek to tackle, their ‘new direction’. Through this innovative format, the conference seeks to encourage in-depth discussion and productive debate, and to benefit not only scholars already established in this field, but also postgraduate students.

Confirmed speakers include: Petr Bagrov (State Film Archive of Russia), Birgit Beumers (Aberystwyth), Philip Cavendish (UCL SSEES), Ian Christie (Birkbeck, London), Nancy Condee (Pittsburgh), Julian Graffy (UCL SSEES), Seth Graham (UCL SSEES), Jeremy Hicks (Queen Mary, London), Stephen Hutchings (Manchester), Nikolai Izvolov (Institute of Film Research, Moscow), Lilya Kaganovsky (Illinois), Sergei Kapterev (Institute of Film Research, Moscow), Naum Kleiman (Museum of Cinema, Moscow), Susan Larsen (Cambridge), Stephen Lovell (King’s College London), Rachel Morley (UCL SSEES), Joan Neuberger (Austin, Texas), Masha Salazkina (Concordia), Oksana Sarkisova (Central European University), Nariman Skakov (Stanford), Vlad Strukov (Leeds), Richard Taylor (Swansea), Anna Toropova (Cambridge), Evgenii Tsymbal (Moscow), Emma Widdis (Cambridge), Eugénie Zvonkine (Paris VIII).

One panel is dedicated to postgraduate presentations, which have been selected by international competition. The participants in this panel are: Alex Graham (UCL SSEES), Natalia Klimova (Princeton), Tom McLenachan (UCL SSEES) and Irina Schulzki (Munich).

The conference also includes a film screening, discussion and reception.

The conference will honour Professor Julian Graffy, who has played a vital role in establishing and sustaining the academic field of Russian and Soviet cinema studies, as a scholar, a teacher, a mentor and a colleague of exceptional academic generosity, and marks his retirement after more than thirty-seven years at UCL SSEES.

We have received generous funding from CEELBAS, UCL SSEES, the University of Cambridge (Trinity College, Dame Elizabeth Hill and Trevelyan Funds, Cambridge Ukrainian Studies) and I.B. Tauris.

The final programme and details of how delegates can register to attend are available on the conference website:http://www.kino.group.cam.ac.uk

Inquiries about the symposium that are not addressed on the conference website may be addressed to Dr Anna Toropova at:contact@kino.group.cam.ac.uk