>From China to Turkey: `first person’ film event at Watershed
Press release issued 21 February 2007
A unique international film symposium attracting film makers and
scholars from India, Turkey, Holland, the US and the UK, is taking
place in Bristol on 23 and 24 February. The organisers are expecting
engaging presentations and lively discussions on issues of identity and
subjectivity in `first person’ films ` and on the risks of making
autobiographical films in certain geo-political contexts around the
world.
The two-day symposium entitled `The Ethnic Self: First Person Plural’
is organised by Dr Alisa Lebow, and sponsored by Bristol Docs, a
collaboration between the Universities of Bristol and the West of
England, with funding from the British Academy.
Documentaries from China, Turkey, India, Argentina and the Caribbean
will also be screened at the event.
Dr Alisa Lebow from UWE said:`We are looking forward to the visit of a
Turkish filmmaker who is currently making an autobiographical film
about her Armenian grandmother and the hidden history of Armenians in
the Black Sea region of Turkey. Also present, and in dialogue with the
Turkish filmmaker, will be an Armenian-American filmmaker with a film
on travelling in Turkey. This is a timely issue considering the recent
assassination of the Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink.
`We will also be considering the recent emergence of first person
filmmaking from China, and asking if this is a sign of the
westernisation of Chinese culture. The symposium will include on
Saturday morning a discussion on the `individual voice’ in a communist
or postcommunist society, led by China film scholar Professor Chris
Berry of Goldsmiths College, London.’
Films being screened are:
Nostalgia (Shu Haolun, China, 2005)
Garden Dwelling (Tina Bastajian, US/Turkey, 2004)
Hush! (Berke Bas, Work in Progress, Turkey)
The Television and Me (Andres di Tella, Argentina, 2003)
Tales of the Night Fairies (Shohini Gosh, India, 2002)
Speakers are:
Berke Bas (Bilgi University, Istanbul)
Tina Bastajian (Amsterdam)
Professor Chris Berry (Goldsmiths University)
Professor Michael Chanan (UWE)
Sabeena Gadihoke (Jamia University, New Delhi)
Dr Elspeth Kydd (UWE)
Dr Alisa Lebow (UWE)
Further information:
The two-day symposium takes place on Friday 23 February at the
Watershed and Saturday 24 February at the Arnolfini from 10 am ` 5 pm.
Admission for both days is £35, or £25 for concessions. For tickets
contact the Watershed box office on tel 0117 927 5100 or visit
Bristol Docs is an initiative to provide a focus for documentary in
Bristol and South West England, on the basis of a collaboration between
the University of the West of England, the University of Bristol, and a
number of associates, including the Watershed Media Centre. For more
information on the symposium visit