September 6, 2023—September 9, 2023

Visible Evidence XXIX

University of Udine, Italy

Visible Evidence XXIX

organized in partnership with FilmForum 2023 – XXX International Film and Media Studies Conference

Documentary Ecologies

 

The 29th edition of Visible Evidence, the annual international conference on documentary film and media, is organized in partnership with FilmForum 2023, the 30th edition of Udine’s International Film and Media Studies Conference and the 20th of the MAGIS International Film and Media Studies Spring School, and will be hosted at the University of Udine, Italy, September 6-9, 2023.

Visible Evidence XXIX will address the history, theory, practice and pedagogy of documentary and non-fiction cinema, television, video, audio recording, digital media, photography, VR, games and performance in a wide range of panels, seminars, workshops, plenary sessions, and screenings. Proposed panels, presentations, seminars, workshops, and screenings may address any aspect of documentary screen cultures, histories, theories, and practices.

As Helen De Michiel and Patricia Zimmerman (2013) have noted, the twenty-first-century documentary characterizes itself as a “fluid, collaborative, shape-shifting, responsive environment for encounters”. Consequently, in order to fully understand some of its manifestations, such as for instance the online ones, it has become key to look at documentaries as ecosystems situated in complex media environments (e.g., see Nash, Hight & Summerhayes 2014). In fact, on closer inspection, the documentary in its many forms has always been a living environment responsive to technological, social, and political shifts, eager to embrace ever-new ways of capturing the real. But how have documentary ecologies changed over time? Which agents and what terms have contributed to this continuous reshaping of the documentary and the establishment of its various faces?  How do the various agents of documentary ecosystems interact with and shape each other? Does the cohabitation of the “old” and the new complicate this interplay? Indeed, even if new technologies, infrastructures, platforms, and modes of representation have kept and continue to arise, older ones often do not disappear. They simply mutate, hybridize and evolve, a fact that renders the documentary landscape increasingly composite and thus makes looking at bigger pictures, as considering the documentary in ecological terms implicates, become all the more important.

These are only some of the questions that the conference wishes to explore in the hope to identify what more can thinking ecologically help us uncover about past and present documentary discourses and practices as well as which new research pathways the adoption of this perspective can open.

Call for Papers

The deadlines for submissions have passed.

The 29th edition of Visible Evidence, the annual international conference on documentary film and media, is organized in partnership with FilmForum 2023, the 30th edition of Udine’s International Film and Media Studies Conference and the 20th of the MAGIS International Film and Media Studies Spring School, and will be hosted at the University of Udine, Italy, September 6-9, 2023.

Visible Evidence XXIX will address the history, theory, practice and pedagogy of documentary and non-fiction cinema, television, video, audio recording, digital media, photography, VR, games and performance in a wide range of panels, seminars, workshops, plenary sessions, and screenings. Proposed panels, presentations, seminars, workshops, and screenings may address any aspect of documentary screen cultures, histories, theories, and practices.

Yet, we especially encourage proposals that think about the documentary in ecological terms. In other words, we particularly welcome proposals that look at documentaries as dynamic systems that result from an assemblage of multiply-connected and interdependent agents. As Helen De Michiel and Patricia Zimmerman (2013) have noted, the twenty-first-century documentary characterizes itself as a “fluid, collaborative, shape-shifting, responsive environment for encounters”. Consequently, in order to fully understand some of its manifestations, such as for instance the online ones, it has become key to look at documentaries as ecosystems situated in complex media environments (e.g., see Nash, Hight & Summerhayes 2014). In fact, on closer inspection, the documentary in its many forms has always been a living environment responsive to technological, social, and political shifts, eager to embrace ever-new ways of capturing the real. But, how have documentary ecologies changed over time? Which agents and what terms have contributed to this continuous reshaping of the documentary and the establishment of its various faces?  How do the various agents of documentary ecosystems interact with and shape each other? Does the cohabitation of the “old” and the new complicate this interplay? Indeed, even if new technologies, infrastructures, platforms, and modes of representation have kept and continue to arise, older ones often do not disappear. They simply mutate, hybridize and evolve, a fact that renders the documentary landscape increasingly composite and thus makes looking at bigger pictures, as considering the documentary in ecological terms implicates, become all the more important.

These are only some of the questions that the conference wishes to explore in the hope to identify what more can thinking ecologically help us uncover about past and present documentary discourses and practices as well as which new research pathways the adoption of this perspective can open.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

– From old to social media: documentary and evolving technologies
– Documentary and emerging platforms
– Collaborative documentary (e.g., co-creation, co-design, crowd-sourcing)
– Interactive, immersive, and participatory documentaries (i-docs, VR documentaries, docugames, etc.)
– Documentary and animation
– Hybridity and documentaries (mockumentary, docudrama, docufiction)
– Convergence, transmediality, and the documentary
– Crossing national borders: transnational documentaries (e.g., co-production practices, multi-location documentaries, etc.)
– Documentary’s environments, documenting our environment
– Documentary soundscapes
– Archives, histories, museums, and the documentary
– The infrastructures of documentary
– The materiality of documentary and its ecological impact
– Activism and documentary
– The ethical challenges of documenting the real
– Race, gender, sexuality, and the documentary
– Documentary audiences

Conference structure

The conference will be articulated in panel, workshop, seminar, and screening sessions, each of which will be allotted one hour and forty-five minutes. Workshops are envisioned as an open and unstructured exchange of ideas and techniques between all workshop participants. Seminars are instead conceived as longer conversations around a specific topic. For this reason, each seminar topic will be developed over two slots to be scheduled on two consecutive days of the conference during a time frame that will be devoted just to seminars. Presenters in each slot will be required to attend also the other slot devoted to that seminar topic. Finally, the conference will also offer screening sessions devoted entirely to a single film or a series of short films by attending filmmakers, during which the latter will also have the chance to discuss their work with the delegates in attendance.

Submission Guidelines

Panels will consist of 3 or 4 papers of no more than 20 minutes each. Panel chairs will ensure that at least twenty minutes are available for questions and discussion following paper presentations.

  • Panel proposals require a title and a 300-word (max) description of the panel itself; 5 keywords that identify the panel’s focus; a title and a 200-word (max) description of each individual paper; 5 bibliographic entries for each paper; and 150-word (max) biographies of each participant. The chair of the panel should collect all of the material and submit the panel proposal here.

Individual paper proposals may be submitted to the open call. Each individual presentation will be allotted 20 minutes. Accepted presentations will be programmed into panels with other individual presentation submissions.

  • Individual paper proposals require a title, a 300-word (max) description of the paper itself; 5 keywords that identify the paper’s focus; 5 bibliographic entries for the paper; and a 150-word biography of the participant. Submit an individual paper proposal here.

Workshops will consist of between five and six opening statements, in which workshop leaders can present up to thirty minutes collectively of prepared or informal material (5 minutes for each statement). The remaining time will be devoted to discussion.

  • Workshop proposals require a 300-word (max) description of the workshop itself; 5 keywords that identify the workshop’s focus; 50-word (max) descriptions of each individual statement; and 150-word (max) biographies of each participant. The chair of the workshop should collect all of the material and submit the workshop proposal here.

Seminars will consist of between 10 and 12 10-minute presentations, aimed at igniting productive conversations about a specific documentary-related topic, which will be divided over two slots to be scheduled on two consecutive days of the conference. Seminar participants will be required to attend both slots. A maximum of 8 seminar topics will be offered during the conference. Those who wish to lead a seminar should submit a proposal that outlines the rationale for the topic chosen, the leader’s qualifications, and the pre-conference work required.

The seminar leaders whose proposals will be accepted will then be responsible for circulating a CFP through the Visible Evidence listserv soliciting submissions by the membership for participation in the seminar, reading all submissions and selecting seminar participants, assigning any pre-conference work, moderating the discussion, and any in-seminar work.

Seminars will be open to auditors, who should be considered a core part of it and will be asked to read or view all materials assigned by the seminar leader and/or the seminar participants.

  • Seminar topic proposals require a 450-word (max) outline of the proposed seminar topic, the rationale for it, and the pre-conference work that will be required of participants; 5 keywords that identify the seminar’s focus; and a 150-word (max) biography of the proposed seminar leader, highlighting their qualifications for conducting a seminar on that specific topic. Submit the proposal for a seminar’s topic here.

Participants may present in a workshop or seminar or on a panel, but not in more than one. But, participants can present in a panel, seminar, or workshop and serve as a chair.

VE XXIX also welcomes screening proposals for filmmakers to screen their work in a session devoted entirely to a single film or a series of short films by attending filmmakers.

  • Screening proposals require a 300-word (max) description of the work; a link to the screener of the film with total running time; and a 150-word biography of the filmmaker. Submit screening proposals here.

Mode of participation

Mainly in person. Only up to 20% of the conference presentation slots will be allocated to online presentations for those who cannot make it to Udine in person. For this reason, panel proposals shouldn’t have more than 1 presenter participating remotely and workshop proposals more than 2. You will be asked to specify upon submission the mode of participation of your choice. After the acceptance of the proposal, it will not be possible to switch from one mode to the other.

Submission deadlines

Seminars: December 12, 2022

All other proposals: January 16, 2023

 

Seminar leaders will be notified of acceptance/non-acceptance by January 9, 2023.

All other applicants will be notified of acceptance/non-acceptance by February 28, 2023.

For all conference-related inquiries, please email visiblevidence2023@gmail.com

Conference Travel

Air Travel

Most attendees of Visible Evidence XXIX traveling to Udine from outside of Italy or Slovenia will elect to fly to the Venice Marco Polo International Airport.

If delegates are flying from or via London Stansted, Frankfurt, Valencia, Malta, Rome, Naples and Palermo, an alternative option would be the Trieste Airport, since it has regular flights to and from these destinations. The Trieste Airport also has less-regular flights to and from Brussels, Barcelona, Dublin, and Tirana.

In planning your travel, please note that due to the large number of presenters, panels will start on the morning of September 6 and end on the evening of September 9.

Ground Transportation from Venice Marco Polo Airport to Udine and Return

Thousands of university students, researchers, educators, staff, conference attendees and dignitaries are transported easily, conveniently and safely between Venice Marco Polo airport and the Udine campus by:

  • Train – The ride takes only just over an hour and a half (unless you catch one of the local trains that makes all the stops for a two-hour ride). Trains between Venice Marco Polo Airport and Udine run almost ever hour. This would prove the most eco-friendly solution and we thus strongly encourage it.
  • Up2Go – Carpooling app introduced by the University of Udine as part of its plan to towards sustainability. The app can be downloaded here.
  • FlixBus – The journey takes about an hour and a half. Tickets can be bought at the station, on board or online.
  • GoOpti shuttle – It is available on demand and the journey takes about an hour and forty-five minutes. You can book your journey here. If you do opt for this solution, we recommend the shared option as it is more environmentally friendly than the private one.

Ground Transportation from Trieste Airport to Udine and Return

If you land at Trieste Airport you can safely travel to and from Udine by:

  • Train – It is just over an hour ride and trains connecting Trieste and Udine run almost every hour. You are however strongly encouraged to book your tickets in advance. This would prove the most eco-friendly solution and we thus strongly encourage it.
  • Up2Go – Carpooling app introduced by the University of Udine as part of its plan to towards sustainability. The app can be downloaded here.
  • APT Bus – Bus rides connecting Trieste and Udine run hourly and the journey lasts approximately fifty-four minutes.

Train Travel

Attendees traveling to Visible Evidence XXIX from the rest of Italy, Austria or Slovenia are strongly encouraged to opt for a train, due to its reduced environmental impact. In particular:

  • From Austria: Venice-bound daytime and night trains from Vienna have a stop at Udine.
  • From Slovenia: The most convenient and frequent method may be to take a train to Nova Gorica, walk across the border to Gorizia and onwards to the city’s train station and take one of the frequent trains coming from Trieste to Udine. Also, you can take a train from Ljubljana to Udine.

Accommodations

Conference Accommodations

Udine offers a number of different typologies of accommodations. Due to early September being still holiday season in Italy and the week of the conference coinciding with the local food and wine festival Friuli Doc Fest, conference attendees are encouraged to book their accommodation as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Four-star hotels:

 

Best Western Hotel Continental

(A 12-minute bus ride or 27-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Viale Tricesimo 71

33100 Udine

To book please write an email to continental.ud@bestwestern.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–Cut-off date: May 31, 2023.

Là di Moret

(A 16-minute bus ride or 7-minute car ride from the main conference venue)

Viale Tricesimo 276

33100 Udine

Standard room rate: 99 € per night with breakfast included

To book please write an email to hotel@ladimoret.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–Cut-off date: May 31, 2023.

 

Three-star hotels:

 

Hotel San Giorgio

(A 19-minute walk away from the main conference venue)

Piazzale Cella, 2

33100 Udine

Room rates ranging between 90 € and 110 € per night with breakfast included. To book please write an email to info@hotelsangiorgioudine.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–Cut-off date: April 30, 2023.

Hotel Ramandolo

(A 17-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Via Forni di Sotto, 28

33100 Udine

Room rates ranging between 99€ and 130€ per night. To book please write an email to info@hotelramandolo.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–Cut-off date: April 30, 2023.

Hotel Clocchiatti & Next

(A 14-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Via Cividale 29

33100 Udine

Room rates ranging between 55€ and 89€ per night with breakfast included. To book please write an email to infoclocchiatti@gmail.com mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–Cut-off date: April 30, 2023.

Hotel Quo Vadis

(A 20-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Piazzale Cella 28

33100 Udine

Room rates ranging between 56€ and 59€ per night with breakfast included. To book please write an email to info@hotelquovadis.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–New cut-off date, May 31, 2023.

Albergo Al Vecchio Tram

(An 11-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Via Brenari 28

33100 Udine

Room rates ranging between 80€ and 135€ per night. To book please write an email to posta@hotelvecchiotram.com mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–New cut-off date: May 31, 2023.

Albergo Residenza al Teatro

(An 11-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Via Paracchiuso 38

33100 Udine

Hotel Principe

(A 19-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Viale Europa Unita 51

33100 Udine

Room rates ranging between 99€ and 130€ per night. To book please write an email to info@principe-hotel.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–New cut-off date: May 31, 2023.

 

Bed & Breakfast:

 

B&B Hotel Udine

(A 14-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Via Duino, 8

33100 Udine

Hotel Alle Due Palme

(An 11-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Viale L. da Vinci 5

33100 Udine

Room rates ranging between 50€ and 100€  per night with breakfast included. To book please write an email to hotel-duepalme@libero.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–Cut-off date: April 30, 2023.

Convitto Bertoni

(A 20-minute walk from the main conference venue)

Viale Cadore 59

3100 Udine

Room rate 40€ per night with breakfast included. To book please write an email to convitto@bertoni-udine.it mentioning the code “FILM FORUM 2023”–Cut-off date: April 30, 2023.

You can also find many exciting accommodations on Airbnb.

 

Location

Conference Location

The main conference venue will be Palazzo Antonini, which is located on via Petracco. Some events will happen also at Palazzo Florio, located on Vicolo Florio 2/b.

 

Registration

Registration Information

Registration for Visible Evidence XXIX is now closed.

Please note that due to the large number of presenters, panels will start on the morning of September 6 and end on the evening of September 9.

Please choose the appropriate registration category on the form based on your professional status.

Early bird in-person fee (available through June 5, 2023) Includes 4 days lunch and access to all keynotes, panels, screenings, and social events.

Faculty/Staff: 180 euro

Post-doc fellow, independent filmmaker/scholar, and precariously employed (i.e., adjunct professor, short-term contract, etc.): 100 euro

Student: 70 euro

Early bird online fee (available through June 5, 2023) Includes access to all keynotes and a selection of panels and screenings.

Any category: 70 euro

Regular in-person fee (available from June 6 to July 16, 2023) Includes 4 days lunch and access to all keynotes, panels, screenings, and social events.

Faculty/Staff: 210 euro

Post-doc fellow, independent filmmaker/scholar, and precariously employed (i.e., adjunct profession, short-term contract, etc.): 130 euro

Student: 90 euro

Regular online fee (available from June 6 to July 16, 2023) Includes access to all keynotes and a selection of panels and screenings.

Any category: 90 euro

Please note that all conference presenters and attendees must be registered.

The registration deadline is Sunday, July 16, 2023, 11:59 pm CET. Presenters need to be registered for the conference to be included in the conference program. The program goes to print very shortly thereafter so we ask presenters to please abide by the deadline.

 

Conference Program

Download the PDF of the final schedule for Visible Evidence XXIX.

You can instead download the full program here.

Panels marked with an asterisk next to their title will be available in full to attendees registered for online participation, alongside a rich selection of the documentaries screened for the in-person audience. All times indicated in the program are in Udine time (i.e., Central European Summer Time).

For in-person attendees

The registration desk will be located in the atrium of Palazzo Antonini (situated in Via Tarcisio Petracco 8) and its operation hours will be the following:

September 5: 15:00 pm – 18:30 pm (pre-registration)

September 6: 8.30 am – 18:45 pm

September 7: 8:30 am – 18:30 pm

September 8: 8:30 am – 18:30 pm

September 9: 8:30 am – 18:30 pm

Please ensure to collect your badge and printed program so as to be able to access all conference sessions and events.