19th-21st June, 2024, University of St Andrews
Buchanan Building (School of Modern Languages), Union Street
Organisers: Dora Osborne & Paul Flaig
German Screen Studies Network
Supported by DAAD Promoting German Studies Networking Grant
The conference will delve into the future prospects of German Screen Studies amidst ongoing technological evolution, heightened cultural and political discord, and historical upheavals on national, European, and global levels. Exploring innovative methodologies and concepts, scholars and students will investigate German-language cinematic, televisual, streaming, and site-specific screen media, spanning historical, contemporary, and forthcoming periods. The conference will probe a “future sense” as described by Leslie Adelson, fostering discussions on how to navigate complex historical legacies while addressing present-day challenges. Emphasizing the interdisciplinary nature of the field, the conference will examine the relationship of German Screen Studies with other disciplines, reflecting on its rich legacy of scholarship and engagement with diverse artistic, literary, and political practices. Discussions will encompass a broad spectrum of topics, from German silent cinema to the impact of digital media.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
Wednesday 19th June Buchanan Lecture Theatre
1:00-1:15: Arrival and Welcome, Paul Flaig & Dora Osborne (University of St Andrews)
1:15-2:30: KEYNOTE LECTURE 1
“The Present Interest(s) of German Film History”, Johannes von Moltke (University of Michigan)
2:30-3:00: Coffee Break (Buchanan Building Foyer)
3-4:30: PANEL 1 NEW HISTORIES AND HISTORIOGRAPHIES
Moderator: Anushrut Agrwaal
“Disability as a Critical Term for German Film History”, Paul Dobryden (University of Virginia)
“Chemical Exposures: An Ecological History of Film Manufacturing” Katerina Korola (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
“Queer Cinematic Histories”, Leila Mukhida (University of Cambridge)
4:30-5:30: PANEL 2 RACE, DESIRE AND MEDIA IN THE BERLIN REPUBLIC
Moderator: Lucy Fife Donaldson
“Black Gay Nights: Berlin’s Queer of Colour Club Culture and the 1996 Teddy Award”, Tom Smith (University of St Andrews)
“‘What if…dreams light-years away suddenly became tangible?’ Race, Sexuality, and Fandom in the Transmedial Web Series DRUCK”, Zach Ramon Fitzpatrick (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
5:30-7:00: Pizza and Wine Reception (Buchanan Building Foyer)
7:00-8:15: FILM SCREENING

Kohlhiesels Töchter (Kohlhiesel’s Daughters, dir. Ernst Lubitsch, 1920) at the Byre Theatre (Main Auditorium) (South Street)
UK Premiere of 4K Restoration by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Stiftung, with live piano accompaniment by Jonathan Pinto.
Free and open to the public, but please book your ticket through: https://byretheatre.com/shows/kohlhiesels-daughters-kohlhiesels-tochter/
Thursday 20th June
9:00-10:00: KEYNOTE LECTURE 2 (BUCHANAN LECTURE THEATRE)
“Archival Reparations: For a Reparatory German Film History?”, Erica Carter (King’s College, London)
10:00-10:30: Coffee Break (Buchanan Building Foyer)
10:30-12:00: PANEL 3 TRANSNATIONAL SPACES AND TRANSCULTURAL TIMES (BUCHANAN LECTURE THEATRE)
Moderator: Viviane Saglier
“From a Condemned Drama to an Acceptable Film: Boxer Nationalism, German-British Camaraderie, and Rosa Jung in Alarm in Peking (1937)”, Qinna Shen (Bryn Mawr College)
“Whither German Screen Studies? Multidirectional Memory Across Moving Image Practices”, Lawrence Alexander (University of Oxford)
“#ACHTUNG CINEPHILIE: Cinephilia as a Transnational Perspective on German Screen Culture”, Marie Krämer (University of Marburg & Université de Lorraine)
12:00-1:30 Panels 4
PANEL 4 LEGACIES OF WEIMAR CINEMA (BUCHANAN LECTURE THEATRE)
Moderator: Tom Rice
“Fritz Lang’s Media”, Mary Hennessy (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
“The Threat of Dissolution: Finance and Liquidity in Weimar Cinema”, Owen Lyons (Toronto Metropolitan University)
“‘Primitive Savages’ and ‘Exotic Nightmares’: Depictions of Racial ‘Otherness’ in Weimar Cinema”, Molly Harrabin (University of Warwick)
1:30-2:30: Lunch (Buchanan Foyer)
2:30-4:00: Panels 5 and 6 (Parallel)
PANEL 5 THEORIES OF ECOCINEMA (BUCHANAN LECTURE THEATRE)
Moderator: Philippa Lovatt
“‘Emblems of a Forgotten Future’: Landscape Films, Atmosphere, and Theories of More-than-Human Physiognomy”, Tyler Parks (University of St Andrews)
“Stimmung: A Concept out of Tune?”, Steffen Hven (Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf)
“Active Serenity: Dwelling with Nature in Werner Herzog’s Films”, Haotian (Walden) Wu (University of Cambridge)
PANEL 6 LEGACIES OF NAZI VIOLENCE (BUCHANAN B216)
Moderator: Colette Lawson
“Victims, Perpetrators, Implicated Subjects: The Future of Austrian Remembrance on Screen”, Katya Krylova (University of Aberdeen)
“Ethics, Agency, and the Future of the Child in German-Language Film”, Alexandra Lloyd (University of Oxford)
“Beyond Borders: Masculinity, Memory, and National Identity in Munich-The Edge of War (2021)”, Biyu Chen (King’s College, London)
4:15-5:45: Panels 7 and 8 (Parallel)
PANEL 7 HISTORIES OF ECOCINEMA (BUCHANAN LECTURE THEATRE)
Moderation: Tyler Parks
“Mountains and the (Un)natural Woman: Performance and Physiognomy in Die Bergkatze (1921) and Das blaue Licht (1932)”, Ellie Richardson (University of Cambridge)
“Back to the Land: Rediscovering the Rural Spaces of Postwar German Cinema”, Nancy Wilson (Queen Mary, University of London)
“Streaming Television and German (Screen) Studies: Challenges and Opportunities Stephan Ehrig (Glasgow) & Benjamin Schaper (Independent Scholar)
PANEL 8 WOMEN IN GERMAN SCREEN STUDIES (BUCHANAN B216)
Moderator: Carla Steinbrecher
“Precarious Kinship, Conflicting Memories, and Ambivalent Affects of Belonging in Cho Sung-hyung’s Korean-German Documentaries”, Qingyang Freya Zhou (University of California, Berkeley)
“The Elusive Dream of Reproductive Freedom: Abortion, Art and Politics in Documentary Film”, Patricia Lehner (King’s College, London)
“Aesthetics of Solitude in German Women’s Cinema”, Hyojin Yoon (King’s College, London)
Friday 21st June
9:00-10:00: KEYNOTE LECTURE 3 (BUCHANAN LECTURE THEATRE)
“DEFA, Media Convergence and the Socialist Imaginary”, Seán Allan (University of St Andrews / University of Bonn)
10:00-10:30: Coffee Break (Buchanan Building Foyer)
10:30-12:15: PANELS 10 AND 11
PANEL 9 LEGACIES OF GDR CINEMA (BUCHANAN LECTURE THEATRE)
Moderator: Seán Allan
“Taking Stock: Wolfen and the Filmic Production of (GDR) History”, Danny Pinto (University of Chicago)
“Revolutionary Romantics: The Mediation of Latin American Poetry in DEFA Documentary Film of the 1970s”, Carla Steinbrecher (University of St Andrews / University of Bonn)
“The Future of the Future: Now Playing at Theaters Near You”, Evelyn Preuss (University of Oklahoma)
“German Film from Red to Green: Environmental Concerns and Human Impact on Film”, Sam Osborn (University of Exeter)
PANEL 10 A POST-HUMAN FUTURE?: ANIMALS, ANDROIDS, NECROPHILIACS (BUCHANAN B216)
Moderator: Paul Flaig
“‘Nekrophilie ist die Liebe zur Zukunft’: Jörg Buttgereit, Heiner Müller, and German Futures After the Wall”, Jack Davis (Truman State University)
“Posthuman Futures in the Berlin School”, Dora Osborne (University of St Andrews)
“The Future Was Female: Media Archaeology, Gendered Technology and German Screen History”, Paul Flaig (University of St Andrews)
12:20-12:30: Closing Remarks and Departure (Buchanan Lecture Theatre)