Mapping Global Horror: Australia, Japan and Beyond
Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)
Melbourne, Australia
17-18 March 2023 (Mar 16-18 in USA)
Livestream Link: https://acmi.zoom.us/j/82385294899?pwd=d3lqSDlKREErR045c3lSTllYNjJTQT09
Registration: https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/mapping-global-horror-australia-japan-beyond/
ACMI STATEMENT
Join world-leading academics, researchers and directors as we explore the horror genre as a historical and contemporary phenomenon.
The horror genre has gone global. In recent years, global horror has evolved with such speed, complexity, and diversity that we must now find new ways to map it. George A. Romero’s revolutionary series of zombie films began with Night of the Living Dead in 1968, and has recently inspired films as varied as Australia’s Cargo (2017) and Japan’s One Cut of the Dead (2017). With the George A. Romero Collection as the founding acquisition of the University of Pittsburgh’s Horror Studies Archive, the stage has been set for a new mapping of global horror studies.
What do these networks of global exchange and influence tell us about the nature of the horror genre and how it is changing in today’s media landscape? With Australia and Japan as primary entry points for a discussion of global horror, this 2-day conference aims to provide new maps for understanding a genre that is as popular as it is socially and culturally significant across the world. New or revitalised areas of activity in the genre, such as zombies, women in horror, and folk horror, will constitute a special focus of our discussions. Conversation between filmmakers and scholars will invite consideration of issues ranging from art to industry, from history to contemporary developments. Romero’s living dead are still walking, and their stage is now truly global. Now is the time to map their movements and gain a new understanding of this phenomenon called global horror.
Join us as we focus on horror as a global phenomenon, with particular attention on Japanese and Australian horror, and on the relationship between these two distinctive localised approaches to the genre. We explore themes such as folk horror, women in horror, local/global horror cultures, and how horror is archived, produced, distributed, and consumed in the 21st century.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
DAY ONE
Friday
17 March
10-11.30 Aus (Thurs 16 Mar 6-7.30 PM EST)
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)
"Fetuses and Women in J-Horror"
Charles Exley (University of Pittsburgh)
“Contextualising the Cinema of Kayoko Asakura”
Claire Henry (Flinders University)
“Surrealist Aesthetics in Female-Directed Horror”
12-1.30 Aus (Thurs 16 Mar 8-9.30PM EST)
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)
2.30-4 Aus (Thurs 16 Mar 10.30-12 AM EST)
Folk Horror as Global Horror
Chair: Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT)
Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT)
“Digital Folk Horror”
Bliss Cua Lim (University of Toronto)
“Haunted Film Sets: Folklore as Media Legend”
Akira Lippit (University of Southern California)
“Forms of Solitude: Ultraviolence and Extreme Loneliness”
Saige Walton (University of South Australia)
"Black Flowers Blooming in Matter's Darkness: the Bachelardian Imagination of Folk/Horror in Alex Garland's Men"
6 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 2 AM EST)
In Conversation with Natalie Erika James
Screening of Relic (Natalie Erika James, 2020, 89 mins)
(Introduction by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas [Deakin University])
Q+A following screening
DAY TWO
Saturday
18 March
10-11.30 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 6-7.30 PM EST)
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)
12-1.30 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 8-9.30 PM EST)
Roundtable: Filmmakers on Horror
Chair: Adam Daniel (AFTRS)
Kayoko Asakura
Natalie Erika James
Isabel Peppard
Caitlin Koller
2.30-3.30 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 10.30-11.30 PM EST)
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)
4-5:30 Aus (Sat 18 Mar 12-1.30 AM EST)
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)
6.30 Aus (Sat 18 Mar 2.30 AM EST)
In Conversation with Kayoko Asakura
Screening of My Girlfriend is a Serial Killer (Kayoko Asakura, 2022, 103 mins)
(Introduction by Charles Exley [University of Pittsburgh]), Q+A following screening
Lead conference organisers: Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT), Charles Exley (University of Pittsburgh), Adam Lowenstein (University of Pittsburgh), Andy Lynch (Swinburne University) and Angela Ndalianis (Swinburne University). Major funding support from the University of Pittsburgh’s Global Studies Center, Office of the Provost, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation and Mitsubishi endowments at the University of Pittsburgh, a U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center grant, the Asian Studies Center, and University Center for International Studies. Additional funding from Swinburne research engagement grant, and in-kind support from RMIT.
Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)
Melbourne, Australia
17-18 March 2023 (Mar 16-18 in USA)
Livestream Link: https://acmi.zoom.us/j/82385294899?pwd=d3lqSDlKREErR045c3lSTllYNjJTQT09
Registration: https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/mapping-global-horror-australia-japan-beyond/
ACMI STATEMENT
Join world-leading academics, researchers and directors as we explore the horror genre as a historical and contemporary phenomenon.
The horror genre has gone global. In recent years, global horror has evolved with such speed, complexity, and diversity that we must now find new ways to map it. George A. Romero’s revolutionary series of zombie films began with Night of the Living Dead in 1968, and has recently inspired films as varied as Australia’s Cargo (2017) and Japan’s One Cut of the Dead (2017). With the George A. Romero Collection as the founding acquisition of the University of Pittsburgh’s Horror Studies Archive, the stage has been set for a new mapping of global horror studies.
What do these networks of global exchange and influence tell us about the nature of the horror genre and how it is changing in today’s media landscape? With Australia and Japan as primary entry points for a discussion of global horror, this 2-day conference aims to provide new maps for understanding a genre that is as popular as it is socially and culturally significant across the world. New or revitalised areas of activity in the genre, such as zombies, women in horror, and folk horror, will constitute a special focus of our discussions. Conversation between filmmakers and scholars will invite consideration of issues ranging from art to industry, from history to contemporary developments. Romero’s living dead are still walking, and their stage is now truly global. Now is the time to map their movements and gain a new understanding of this phenomenon called global horror.
Join us as we focus on horror as a global phenomenon, with particular attention on Japanese and Australian horror, and on the relationship between these two distinctive localised approaches to the genre. We explore themes such as folk horror, women in horror, local/global horror cultures, and how horror is archived, produced, distributed, and consumed in the 21st century.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
DAY ONE
Friday
17 March
10-11.30 Aus (Thurs 16 Mar 6-7.30 PM EST)
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)
"Fetuses and Women in J-Horror"
Charles Exley (University of Pittsburgh)
“Contextualising the Cinema of Kayoko Asakura”
Claire Henry (Flinders University)
“Surrealist Aesthetics in Female-Directed Horror”
12-1.30 Aus (Thurs 16 Mar 8-9.30PM EST)
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)
2.30-4 Aus (Thurs 16 Mar 10.30-12 AM EST)
Folk Horror as Global Horror
Chair: Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT)
Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT)
“Digital Folk Horror”
Bliss Cua Lim (University of Toronto)
“Haunted Film Sets: Folklore as Media Legend”
Akira Lippit (University of Southern California)
“Forms of Solitude: Ultraviolence and Extreme Loneliness”
Saige Walton (University of South Australia)
"Black Flowers Blooming in Matter's Darkness: the Bachelardian Imagination of Folk/Horror in Alex Garland's Men"
6 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 2 AM EST)
In Conversation with Natalie Erika James
Screening of Relic (Natalie Erika James, 2020, 89 mins)
(Introduction by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas [Deakin University])
Q+A following screening
DAY TWO
Saturday
18 March
10-11.30 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 6-7.30 PM EST)
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)
12-1.30 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 8-9.30 PM EST)
Roundtable: Filmmakers on Horror
Chair: Adam Daniel (AFTRS)
Kayoko Asakura
Natalie Erika James
Isabel Peppard
Caitlin Koller
2.30-3.30 Aus (Fri 17 Mar 10.30-11.30 PM EST)
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)
4-5:30 Aus (Sat 18 Mar 12-1.30 AM EST)
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)
6.30 Aus (Sat 18 Mar 2.30 AM EST)
In Conversation with Kayoko Asakura
Screening of My Girlfriend is a Serial Killer (Kayoko Asakura, 2022, 103 mins)
(Introduction by Charles Exley [University of Pittsburgh]), Q+A following screening
Lead conference organisers: Jessica Balanzategui (RMIT), Charles Exley (University of Pittsburgh), Adam Lowenstein (University of Pittsburgh), Andy Lynch (Swinburne University) and Angela Ndalianis (Swinburne University). Major funding support from the University of Pittsburgh’s Global Studies Center, Office of the Provost, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation and Mitsubishi endowments at the University of Pittsburgh, a U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center grant, the Asian Studies Center, and University Center for International Studies. Additional funding from Swinburne research engagement grant, and in-kind support from RMIT.