This talk will examine the relationship between VR media and the “body genre” of melodrama, so-called by film theorists (Clover, 1987; Williams, 1991) for its tendency to elicit tears from audiences, ones generally assumed to be female. Gender is central to critical responses to film melodrama, yet it is often an under-theorised element of research into VR and other immersive technologies. In line with this, while there is already a growing body of literature on virtual reality horror and pornography, both also classified as body genres, research into the melodramatic nature of various VR experiences has so far gone unexamined. In this talk, I aim to go beyond simplistic classifications of melodramas as “tearjerkers” to examine how their often-gendered melancholic affect relates to contemporary discourse around VR’s emotive and empathetic potential (e.g. Herson, 2016; Mitchell, 2017; Bollmer, 2017).

This paper will demonstrate how operations relating to land ownership and management are problematically informed by patriarchal ideological discourses, which have endured in Ireland for centuries and have been variously co-opted by both colonial powers and the Irish State. 

The Northern Ireland Now: Contemporary Collecting Project is run by the Nerve Centre in partnership with Northern Ireland Screen. The aim of the project is to tackle underrepresentation in Northern Ireland's Digital Film Archive by working collaboratively with twelve community groups across the North of Ireland to make a new video collection that celebrates equality, diversity and inclusion. 

On November 13^th students on the BA in Film and Screen Media were delighted to take up an invitation, from Michael Hussey and Ed Guiry (curator), to visit the newly-established Youghal Film and Photography Museum. The Museum, which formally opened in the summer, is home to a stunning array of magic lanterns, cameras, projectors, and film ephemera, on permanent loan from a number of donors including magic lantern expert Andy Kelly, and the Horgan family. 

Join us for a dialogue between the first Film Artist, Carmel Winters, and the latest, Emer Reynolds. All welcome to attend. Please reserve a place at the following Eventbrite page HERE.

In addition to the conferences sustained focus on hauntology and the ghost as symbol for radical social justice, this year’s conference welcomed papers on “The Future of Folklore” and asked delegates to consider how folklore can usefully combat and destabilise systemic injustice.

Mark Cousins in conversation with Grainne Humphreys - Thur 7 Nov @6.30pm IFI Temple Bar