MAPPING GLOBAL HORROR: AUSTRALIA, JAPAN AND BEYOND Conference In Melbourne This March
ACMI in association with Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Pittsburgh present MAPPING GLOBAL HORROR: AUSTRALIA, JAPAN AND BEYOND, a conference dedicated to exploring the horror genre as a historical and contemporary phenomenon from March 17 – 18.
Join world-leading scholars and filmmakers for a two-day conference at ACMI in Melbourne that includes talks, panels and screenings.
Day 1 – Friday 17 March
10–11.30am Women in Horror: Japan, Australia and Beyond
- Chair: Charles Exley (University of Pittsburgh)
- Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (Deakin University)
- ‘Writing 1000 Women in Horror and the Popular Reception of Alternate Histories’
- Chika Kinoshita (Kyoto University)
- ‘The Fetus and the Horror of Motherhood’
- Charles Exley (University of Pittsburgh)
- ‘Contextualising the Cinema of Kayoko Asakura’
- Claire Henry (Flinders University)
- ‘Surrealist aesthetics in female-directed horror’
11.30am – 12pm Coffee break
- 12–1.30pm George A. Romero’s Impact on Global Horror
- Chair: Adam Lowenstein (University of Pittsburgh)
- Angela Ndalianis (Swinburne University)
- ‘Zombies, Pandemics, and the Social Imaginary’
- Adam Lowenstein (University of Pittsburgh)
- ‘Horror and Aging in Relic and The Amusement Park’
- Ben Rubin (University of Pittsburgh)
- Video introduction to George A. Romero Archival Collection (12 mins)
- Screening of Romero’s Elegy (George A. Romero, 1963, 21 mins)
1.30–2.30pm Lunch
2.30–4pm Folk Horror as Global Horror
- Chair: Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT) and Allison Craven (James Cook University)
- ‘The Folk Horror Feeling: Monstrous Modalities and the Critical Occult’
- Bliss Cua Lim (University of Toronto)
- ‘Folk horror in an Asian context’
- Akira Lippit (University of Southern California)
- ‘Unexpected Correlations in Japanese and Korean Horror’
- Saige Walton (Univeristy of South Australia)
- ‘Embodiment in folk horror’
4–6pm Break
6pm In Conversation with Natalie Erika James
(Ticketed separately. To book visit the RELIC screening page.)
- Screening of RELIC (Natalie Erika James, 2020, 89 mins)
- (Introduction by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Deakin University)
- Q&A following screening
Day 2 – Saturday 18 March
10–11.30am Roundtable: Streaming Genre and Horror
- Chair: Andrew Lynch (Swinburne University)
- Alexa Scarlata (RMIT)
- Andrew Lynch (Swinburne University)
- Jess Balanzategui (RMIT)
- Mark David Ryan (Queensland University of Technology)
11.30am – 12pm Coffee break
12–1.30pm Roundtable: Filmmakers on Horror
- Chair: Adam Daniel (AFTRS)
- Kayoko Asakura
- Natalie Erika James
- Isabel Peppard
- Caitlin Koller
1.30–2.30pm Lunch
2.30–3.30pm Roundtable: Horror Exhibition and Festivals
- Co-chairs: Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT and Angela Ndalianis (Swinburne University)
- Grant Hardie (Convenor of MonsterFest)
- Hudson Sowada (Convenor of Fantastic Fest)
- Lee Gambin (Cinemaniacs)
- Briony Kidd (Stranger With My Face Horror Film Fest)
4–5.30pm Roundtable: Mapping Global Horror
- Co-chairs: Adam Lowenstein (University of Pittsburgh) and Angela Ndalianis (Swinburne University)
- Akira Lippit (University of Southern California)
- Chika Kinoshita (Kyoto University)
- Bliss Lim (University of Toronto)
- Stacey Abbott (Roehampton University)
- Kris Woofter (Dawson College, Montreal)
Accompanying the conference (though ticketed separately) there will be screenings throughout the month from Thursday 16th March to Sunday 2nd April in a program titled FOCUS ON THE DEAD that includes George A. Romero’s 1968 classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING, Yeon Sang-ho’s TRAIN TO BUSAN and Sidney Salkow’s THE LAST MAN ON EARTH starring Vincent Price.
