My thesis experimentally submits Olafur Eliasson’s — what I dub — watery projects frame ongoing motion or changeability similarly to the cinematic image, particularly the selected projects Big Bang...Show moreMy thesis experimentally submits Olafur Eliasson’s — what I dub — watery projects frame ongoing motion or changeability similarly to the cinematic image, particularly the selected projects Big Bang Fountain (2014), Still River (2016) and Fog Assembly (2016), yet transgress the customary image. I ask how to transgressively read the projects by their cinematic potential, or, how to analyze how constructed watery splashes, melting ice cubes or evaporating foggy clouds amplify the viewer’s sense about temporality, and space and self-existence. I set my experiment against a cinematic backdrop constructed by multiple considerations and analyses on Anthony McCall’s ‘solid light film’ series (1973 - 1975). My thesis experimentally demonstrates the cinematic potential productively inquires into the selected watery projects.Show less
De populariteit van Scandinavische films en series is in de afgelopen jaren aanzienlijk gegroeid. Een genre dat opvallend vaak terugkomt is de Scandinavische misdaad, ofwel de Nordic noir. Zoals de...Show moreDe populariteit van Scandinavische films en series is in de afgelopen jaren aanzienlijk gegroeid. Een genre dat opvallend vaak terugkomt is de Scandinavische misdaad, ofwel de Nordic noir. Zoals de naam al aangeeft, leent dit genre elementen uit de klassieke, Amerikaanse film noir. Vervolgens worden typisch Scandinavische ingrediënten aan de mix toegevoegd wat een unieke, herkenbare stijl oplevert.Show less
This thesis focuses on human rights film festivals, in particular Movies that Matter Festival (MTMF) – a relatively small yet significant human rights film festival based in the Netherlands....Show moreThis thesis focuses on human rights film festivals, in particular Movies that Matter Festival (MTMF) – a relatively small yet significant human rights film festival based in the Netherlands. Alongside the festival itself, I investigate the MTMF 2019 film program and the process of film programming leading to its creation. As a film festival with a focus on human rights issues, one can expect MTMF to attempt a varied and all-encompassing approach to its selection of themes and films. Although MTMF does not centre its film programming (and consequently its film program) to gender and genre inclusivity, it is precisely this that offers an opportunity for the study of gender and genre. In this thesis, I examine how MTMF, and specifically the film programming undertaken in 2019, draws on recent developments in contemporary human rights theory in order to implement inclusivity and diversity. As I shall establish, inclusivity and diversity are pillars of both critical film festival studies and human rights film festivals. To achieve this goal, I have organized this thesis into three main chapters. In the first chapter, I study the significance of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (1948) to human rights theory and human rights film festivals today. Moreover, I investigate the fundamental theoretical concepts from human rights theory that apply to the field of human rights film festivals. In the second chapter, I closely examine 50502020 Pledge for Gender Parity and Inclusion in Film Festivals (2018) and study the MTMF 2019 film program from the perspective of gender and genre. I question the impact a film programmer’s, as well as filmmaker’s gender, may have on a film, especially given that the majority of films released in both commercial and art-house cinemas present the male gaze, as I shall demonstrate. I end with a third chapter that offers a close analysis of the process of film programming, an area which my research reveals to be sadly under-examined by film festival scholars. Here, I delve into the methods and power structures of film selection, deriving from film programmers’ presupposed ideas of on what a human rights film and a human rights film festival could be.Show less
Welk beeld van de natuur hebben we? Welke waarde kennen we het toe? Hoe moeten we met de natuur omgaan? In het opkomende veld van filmstudies en ecokritiek kijkt deze thesis naar natuurbeelden in...Show moreWelk beeld van de natuur hebben we? Welke waarde kennen we het toe? Hoe moeten we met de natuur omgaan? In het opkomende veld van filmstudies en ecokritiek kijkt deze thesis naar natuurbeelden in hedendaagse animatiefilms als Finding Nemo, Happy Feet, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, WALL-E en The Lorax. Middels een ecokritische benadering wordt in twee uiteenzettingen betoogd dat de nadruk in deze animatiefilms minder ligt op de tegenstelling tussen natuur en cultuur (en de daaruit voortvloeiende verheerlijking van natuur), maar meer op de wijze waarop natuur en cultuur samenvloeien. In plaats van deze ‘kinderfilms’ te bestempelen als lichtvoetig, bewijzen ze hun doeltreffendheid om complexe ecologische vraagstukken te stimuleren, om bepaalde ideologieën aan te moedigen of te bekritiseren en om de relatie tussen mens en natuur te demonstreren.Show less
Exploring the intimate links between text and skin, this thesis examines the ways in which Virginia Woolf and Ali Smith approach tactile experience within the touch-transforming contexts from which...Show moreExploring the intimate links between text and skin, this thesis examines the ways in which Virginia Woolf and Ali Smith approach tactile experience within the touch-transforming contexts from which their novels The Waves (1931) and How to be Both (2014) emerge. Drawing on the first sustained study that investigates literature and tactility since the publication of seminal works on touch by thinkers of deconstruction such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Nancy, it looks at the two texts from the perspective of a tactful reading. Engaging with the texts with close attention and from a distance, it argues that tactile experience not only resides in the contact of skin on skin, but also in the space between skin and skin. Looking primarily at how the writers give expression to a touch that transforms and a touch that reaches out both in and through their texts, it also draws attention to the way that memory, the shared thematic concern of the novels, too exhibits moments of change and nearness. Finally, this thesis seeks to open up a discussion on the limits and possibilities of a tactful approach and relates it to the potential it offers to the reading of recent innovative literary projects that respond to some of today’s most poignant issues regarding tactility, digital technology and human connection. Inspired by the astounding and intimate sensory surrounds of Ann Hamilton’s large-scale multi-media installation the event of a thread (2012), it demonstrates an attention to the presence of the tactile, and perhaps most importantly, an attention to the presence of each other.Show less
This work concentrates on the recent developments in digital technologies and the art practices that use these technologies fully or partially, such as photography, new media art and post-internet...Show moreThis work concentrates on the recent developments in digital technologies and the art practices that use these technologies fully or partially, such as photography, new media art and post-internet art. The status of images is always changing, therefore it seems necessary to have an outlook into the status of images in the context of continuous flow of media, which the internet and other digital technologies have created, as well as users’ and creators’ relation to them. By exploring the use of the still image within the context of technological advances, the goal of this thesis is to find out how still images work and circulate in the post-internet context.Show less
Within the filmic landscape, the male gaze has always had the upper hand. Films are generally made by men, for men and although this may seem as something from the past, it is still the case. There...Show moreWithin the filmic landscape, the male gaze has always had the upper hand. Films are generally made by men, for men and although this may seem as something from the past, it is still the case. There is an imbalance between the presence of women and men in film, how they are presented and, more importantly, who the films are made for. Within this thesis I want to explore this further and see how this lack of equality has influenced the possibility for identification with the characters on screen by the female spectator. With this I want to focus on the female (super)hero as she is up and coming, but struggling to truly settle in within the male genres of film. I want to try to discover whether her presence has made a difference for the female spectator and if she is someone to they can identify with, as this has for the most part been difficult to do in the past. Moreover, I want to look at what female heroes have been important over the past decade and whether they have changed the gender imbalance or have kept it intact, only seemingly changing things on the surface but not on a deeper level. What possibility for identification have they been able to offer to the female spectator?Show less
In this thesis I will examine the narrative and non-narrative functions of fashion in film, such as the narrative function of fashion to represent time and space and the non-narrative function of...Show moreIn this thesis I will examine the narrative and non-narrative functions of fashion in film, such as the narrative function of fashion to represent time and space and the non-narrative function of fashion as a special effect. Therefore the research question is as follows: ‘what are the narrative and non-narrative functions of fashion in contemporary film throughout the 21st century?’ I distinguish narrativity and non-narrativity since I would like to argue fashion can have a narrative function, a non-narrative function or both. The narrative cause and effect relationship which takes place in a time and space with a clear beginning and ending can be emphasized by costumes, just as it can serve as pure spectacle which is seen as non-narrative. By addressing several functions, I would like to prove that fashion is important and relevant in the studies of film and should be further examined as the digital age develops quickly.Show less
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the social composition of the mechanical devices portrayed in E. M. Forster’s novel The Machine Stops and of Franz Kafka’s In der Strafkolonie and how...Show moreThe purpose of this study is to demonstrate the social composition of the mechanical devices portrayed in E. M. Forster’s novel The Machine Stops and of Franz Kafka’s In der Strafkolonie and how this can be effectively used in order to interpret their imminent implosion within the stories. Beyond providing allegorical expressions for the destruction of Forster’s and Kafka’s machines, I will confront these devices with scholarly literature that highlight the social aspect of the machinic concept and, simultaneously, propose its transcendental dimension that exceeds its material structure and expands within social fields. Thus, the machines within Forster’s and Kafka’s stories are not merely operational structures or tools, but social entities with affective propositions.Show less
This thesis is to be aimed at exploring how the heterogeneity of time is represented in some contemporary Chinese films, namely, Crosscurrent (Chang Jiang Tu, 2016) by the Chinese director Yang...Show moreThis thesis is to be aimed at exploring how the heterogeneity of time is represented in some contemporary Chinese films, namely, Crosscurrent (Chang Jiang Tu, 2016) by the Chinese director Yang Chao (6th January 1974- ), Kaili Blues (Lu Bian Ye Can, 2015) by the Chinese director Bi Gan (4th June 1989-), and Stray Dogs (Jiao You, 2013) by the Taiwan-based director Tsai Ming-liang (27 October 1957-). The thesis will analyse how this respectively corresponds with each film’s theme, which regards either the personal or the social and national predicament related with the economic and social development, in order to explore the possible positive effects these films may have on the individual and societies by provoking the spectator’s imagination of time.Show less
In this thesis I research issues of photographic representation of displaced persons, specifically regarding the so-called European refugee crisis since 2015. I compare the roles of photojournalism...Show moreIn this thesis I research issues of photographic representation of displaced persons, specifically regarding the so-called European refugee crisis since 2015. I compare the roles of photojournalism, or news photography produced for a mass audience, and art/documentary photography. I argue that certain properties within the latter practices are better suited to the representation of refugees and migrants, whose identity, as argued by Giorgio Agamben and Hannah Arendt amongst others, is already extremely vulnerable. My case studies are the photos of the young refugee Alan Kurdi, who washed up on a beach having died in a sea-crossing and whose body was photographed by a Turkish photojournalist at the scene; and 3 art/documentary photographers who have all focused on refugees and/or migrants as their subjects.Show less
