Kiss Kiss Kill Kill: The Forgotten Spy Films of Cold War Europe. 18-19 September 2010, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
Coinciding with the Kiss Kiss Kill Kill exhibition, this 2-day, parallel strand symposium aims to bring together international scholars, critics, collectors, graphic artists and cinephiles to explore the issues surrounding the European poster art and the European spy film between 1950-1985.
In collaboration with the UH Arts and the Hertfordshire Film Consortium, the conference will explore the relationship between poster art, graphic design and espionage cinema during the Cold War, while providing an interdisciplinary forum for the development and appreciation of cult film, literature and the applied arts.
The proposed analysis of graphic art, poster design and rare film will include a consideration of themes such as film archiving, marketing, European aesthetics, international audience reception, genre and state politics.
The symposium will also host rare film screenings and special guest appearances. Films secured for screening will include:
Danger Route (GB Holt 1968)
This screening of a rare 16mm print of Seth Holt’s magnificent low budget spy thriller made by Amicus will also include Q&A with leading actor, Richard Johnson (TBC)
Se tutte le donne del mondo aka Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (Levin & Maiuri IT 1966) We are proud to present this ‘Holy Grail’ classic Italian Eurospy title from a Tarantino-sought- after, super-rare 16mm print from the US.
Danger Diabolik (IT/FR Bava, 1968), 5th October 7pm, The Weston Auditorium Possibly the coolest film ever made, a fabulous mash up of master criminal, super-spy and psychedelic genres, horror maestro Mario Bava set the benchmark for the cool sixties flick.
(N.B. Final list of films to be confirmed.)
Keynote speakers (TBC) include:
Matt Blake (author, The Eurospy Guide 2004)
Xavier Mendik (director, The Cult Film Archive, Brunel University)
Sim Branaghan (author, The British Film Poster BFI)
Possible topics may include (but are not limited to):
• Genre and the International Spy Film
• Espionage state propaganda during the Cold War
• Global themes of espionage
• The Eurospy Auteur
• European Genre Factory of the Cold War Years
• Graphic Design and the Spy Film Poster
• The power of co-production in Europe
• Mainstream vs. Indie Spy film
• The Kitsch and the Bombastic in Cold War Film and Poster Design
• Utopian imagery in Eastern Bloc filmmaking and posters
• Jet-setting and exotica
• Political and historical perspectives on the Eurospy experience
• The European-ness of Eurospy
• Supermen and Superwomen – archetypes in the Spy genre.
• ‘Trash Aesthetics’ of the Spy Film
Visit the project website for further information: www.kisskisskillkill.co.uk/kkkk
Abstracts (200-300 words) for twenty-minute papers should be submitted
as an email attachment to d.elliott@herts. ac.uk by 25 June 2010.
Please quote 10 Academic Resources Daily in your application to this opportunity!
