Reflections and Projections: 100 Years of 16mm
The Moving Image, 23.2
Proposals Due: April 1, 2022
Final Manuscripts Due: September 01, 2022
The Moving Image invites submissions for possible inclusion in a special issue addressing the significant and central role played by 16mm film for nearly 100 years. This important small gauge format influenced decades of medical and educational training; amused and entertained global audiences; served as a fertile training ground for generations of government and Hollywood filmmakers; provided vital infrastructure for the burgeoning television industries; and afforded an opportunity for families, communities, and other non-professionals to document their own lives. As video assumed a more central role within the media industries in the 1970s and 1980s, entire 16mm film collections were discarded and abandoned, increasingly becoming the domain of audiovisual archivists and librarians, museums and historical societies, and networks of private collectors who continue to work to preserve and provide access to these materials to new audiences in innovative ways. To highlight this important work, and to reflect the unique work of AMIA members, we envision an issue that prioritizes the perspectives of practitioners and others who work with 16mm film collections. In doing so, this issue will privilege discussions of archival practice and labor over traditional long-form academic research articles. For example, we welcome interviews with industrial filmmakers, collection profiles and case studies, “war stories” from the vaults and other lessons learned, or thoughtful reflections upon 16mm as a mode of access and preservation.
Potential topics could include, but are not limited to:
. Conversations (or reflections upon relationships) with 16mm film producers, filmmakers, editors, color timers, distributors, exhibitors, and/or collectors
- 16mm film libraries and librarians: Reports from the trenches
- Highlights of 16mm film collections or archives
- Profiles of organizations dedicated to the preservation & exhibition of 16mm film
- 16mm preservation and restoration projects and their related technologies
- Terrors in the 16mm vaults (or unsolved mysteries.)
- Reviews of 16mm screenings, exhibitions, and restorations
Possible Submission Types:
- Feature Articles (4,000-6,000 words)
- Interviews (1,000-3,000 words)
- Case Studies (2,000-4,000 words)
- Institution & Collection Profiles (2,000-4,000 words)
- We’re happy to discuss any other ideas that you might have!
Please submit a PDF of your brief abstract or proposal (100 words max) by email to co-editors, Laura Treat ((ljtreat /at/ ucsb.edu)) and Caroline Frick ((cfrick /at/ austin.utexas.edu)). Proposals must be submitted by April 01, 2022 for initial consideration. Completed manuscripts will be due for editorial review by September 1, 2022. We are happy to discuss your ideas and answer any questions in advance of submission. If you are interested in collaborating on an interview or profile piece, we would be glad to pair you with a possible interviewee. Any questions about this CFP, potential topics, or the proposal process? Please contact the co-editors prior to the proposal submission deadline. This special issue of The Moving Image is designed to complement an upcoming “In Focus” section of the Society of Cinema and Media Studies’ Journal of Cinema and Media Studies which will address the 16mm film format from the perspective of film and media studies scholarship. In addition, the Canadian Journal of Film Studies is preparing an issue on the topic as well. All projects are slated for publication in 2023.
Book, media, and conference reviews should be directed electronically to Brian Real at (realb1 /at/ southernct.edu). All manuscripts should be submitted as a Microsoft Word email attachment, double- spaced throughout, using a 12-point type with 1-inch margins, using the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.