Research Philippe Meers

Abstract

This project studies the role of European cultural institutions (ECIs) depending on their Ministry of Foreign Affairs in promoting national cinemas abroad and developing local film cultures in Chile. It compares the role of the Instituto Italiano di Cultura, the Institut Français, the Centro Cultural de España, and the Goethe Institut in two key historical periods (1955-1973 and 1974-1989) in which these institutions were the main gatekeepers and providers of European cinema in Chile. The action is hosted at the Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi) of UAntwerpen under director Prof. Philippe Meers' supervision and at the Centre of Research in the Arts (CoRA) based at Oxford Brookes University under director Prof. Daniela Treveri Gennari's supervision. Through an interdisciplinary approach in the line of New Cinema History, the research analyses the transnational connections embedded in local film cultures and facilitated by cultural diplomacy. It aims to generate new empirical data on this under-researched area of study, from a peripheral and non-Eurocentric standpoint. Its objectives are: To identify European films that circulated in Chile thanks to ECIs, and the social and institutional networks involving this process; To explore the emerging imaginaries of "European", "political" and "quality cinema" attached to this circulation and influencing local film cultures; and to analyse the local reception of these films and ideas. The methodology combines archival and qualitative research, drawing on the researcher's previous experience and her training at both the beneficiary institution and the secondment. The main results include an online open access database, network analysis and a qualitative dataset; the researcher's training in cutting-edge academic skills and digital humanities; valuable inputs that can inform international cultural policies; and new collaboration networks between academic and non-academic international institutions.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Peirano Olate María Paz

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Despite the increasing participation of film festivals in production financing, networking, and distribution, limited scholarly attention has been paid to the festival's relationship with the industry structures and the working world of film professionals such as sales agents, film programmers, and distributors involved in the programming and circulation of films. This project addresses this gap by examining the labour practices, processes, and challenges of film professionals behind the circulation of Indian films in international film festival networks, especially in the context of ongoing digital transformations in the film and media industries. This project combines archival, textual analysis, and bottom-up methods such as personal interviews, and participant observation to generate valuable insights into the urban challenges, power play, and negotiation strategies of film professionals at two international film festivals (i.e., Rotterdam, and Berlin) and two regional film festivals (i.e., the London Indian Film Festival and Indian Film Festival The Hague). The urban challenges for film festival professionals include long working hours for low pay, contractual labour, and negotiating the complexities of digital platforms, among other struggles. This project offers an innovative approach to film festival studies by borrowing insights from the interdisciplinary field of Media Industry Studies (MIS), which examines the relationship between the larger industrial structures and the "lived experiences" and labour of its workers. In doing so, this project examines how festival workers navigate precarious working conditions, digital disruptions and contribute to diversity and inclusivity through their programming, practices, and policy work in the post-pandemic European film industry. Additionally, it interrogates how can creative cities reconcile precarious working conditions for creative professionals with continuous digital innovation processes through their policies. This project thus aligns with the YUFE4Postdocs theme of 'Digital Societies' by interrogating how digital transformations affect the professional world of film festival workers for a more inclusive and diverse European film industry culture.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Bhatia Neha

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In today's media attention on female athletes, an image exists that women have only recently become more involved in sports due to feminist activism, gender equality, and marketing strategies. But this image does not correspond with reality. While largely hidden from the historical record, women and popular sports have long gone hand in hand. Yet, the existing body of scholarship on sports and nationalism focuses almost exclusively on its relationship to masculinity. This has not only obscured women's early participation in sports but also failed to grasp the complex link between the growing popularity of sports, national identities, and the participation and exclusion of female athletes. This research project seeks to rectify this blind spot in historiography by examining the history of women's cycling, boxing, and catch-wrestling in Belgium and Mexico between the 1920s and 1990s. Drawing on diverse sources, from written and visual historical sources to oral histories, this project provides visibility to largely forgotten historical actors and includes their voices in the historical record. By employing a transnational and intersectional approach to history, it investigates women's sports participation, national responses, and how this has been tied to the gendering of sports and national identities. This allows for a more complex understanding of the interactions between the local, national, and international domains and challenges euro-centrist visions in history.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: de Smaele Henk
• Co-promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Van Bavel Marjolein

Research team(s)

• Power in History - Centre for Political History

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Through my first-person perspective as a queer experimental filmmaker, this project asks the question of how we, the community of Vietnamese radical audio-visual artists, have been encountering different types of censorships imposed by the Vietnamese government, Vietnamese society and ourselves. I work off the radar in Vietnam, where queer bodies and freedom of expression are practically non-existent. I represent the new voice of queer artists who make limitless aesthetic choices to expose unapologetically explicit bodies of my sex. Not only that, I have expressed critiques on my social system through impersonal aesthetic strategies. I am situated inside a community of contemporary Vietnamese radical audio-visual artists. The loosely-connected community can be divided into three subgroups: indie art-house filmmakers, social activist documentary filmmakers and experimental filmmakers. At present, the last group includes none except myself and very few others. Not only do we produce audio-visual artworks without conforming to the propagandistic ideology of the Vietnamese state singly led by the communist party but we are financially independent from the mainstream commercial filmmaking market as well. I have been coping with three simultaneous layers of censorships. They are the regulative ones from the government, the moral ones in disguise as taken-for-granted assumptions from Vietnamese society, and my self-censorship. In my community, our creating processes, film works, auteurs' voices, practitioners' lives, communal centers, and ecological chains are also intervened, censored, repressed, erased, banned, threatened, punished, shut-down or destroyed by different governmental censoring bodies as a matter of fact. Yet, the situation is no longer a one-way imposition from the censors' octopod arms in the digital age. It has now become an open battlefield for claiming artistic, personal, and national identities from multi-sides, through many push-and-pull factors, in which we - the artists of this research project - are not merely treated as conventional underdogs. This project makes use of queer theories, avant-garde theories, and censorship theories. Meanwhile, it applies methodologies of first-person documentary, found-footage collage, documentary with fictionalized elements, and performance-based video. The objective is to investigate minutely the ongoing encounters between the censored and the censors in Vietnam. It would answer in detail other questions such as how different types of censorships have mechanized inside our past and present audio-visual artworks. In the micro scope, which variants of identities have been born on Vietnamese screen and in its society? In the macro scope, how does this particular situation of film censorship reflect the true system of a turbulent society? Beyond that, how will particular artists such as myself cope with and transcend these censorships while creating new transgressive audio-visual works in different formats inside Vietnamese territory? The project will result in a feature experimental film of at least 75 minutes with four major parts respectively basing on the quartet of above-mentioned methodologies. The entire project is designed from the first-person protagonist who is its own queer auteur. In that way, it digs out novel understandings on perspective theory in audio-visual storytelling. By putting a camera into the hands of the censored, the project re-examines the role of those who have been much neglected throughout international censorship literature and rethinks how cameras can give rise to self-empowerment. By acknowledging the autobiography and gender of the protagonist auteur, the project articulates the avant-garde role of queer artists towards our artistic ecosystems. Politically, its gaze subverts the prejudice of victimizing the queer bodies inside our living societies.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This study commissioned by the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF) analyses the film exhibition landscape in Flanders and identifies the needs and challenges of the field. The study aims to propose recommendations for fostering a strong exhibition landscape that takes into account the finality and diversity of different exhibitors. In doing so, we focus on the following components: 1. A mapping of broad trends based on available reports on film screening in Europe. 2. An analysis of the players in the broad screening field, focusing on (1) their mission and focus, (2) the choice in programming and (3) the organisational model. The mapping of the screening landscape presents an exhaustive overview of the entire field of cinema operators, with specific attention to the number of screens, frequency of screenings, diversity and volume of titles, focus on local titles, diversity of activities and nature of the organisation, and insight into the attendance figures of the different players. 3. An analysis of the needs and requirements of the different exhibitors. 4. An overview of initiatives (sector and policy) from four other markets (Denmark, French-speaking Belgium, France, the Netherlands) with a view to formulating lessons learned for Flanders. 5. To formulate a series of concrete recommendations for the Flemish Audiovisual Fund, for broader policy and for the sector itself. The study uses four methods: extensive desk research, an online consultation sent to the broad exhibition field, a quantitative analysis of VAF data and expert interviews with commercial exhibitors, cultural exhibitors, festivals and distributors.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research explores the discourse of choice and control associated with video on demand (VoD) platforms and the changing modes of film and TV viewership. The on-demand era brings more individualization, customization and audience fragmentation. The "choice fatigue" among the audience intensifies as the number of VoD platforms and quality content they offer increases. The research engages in an analysis of different models of choice and control offered by different VoD platforms that function in Turkey, two global (Netflix and MUBI) and one local (BluTV), in relation to each other. In order to specify the conflicts and tensions between the industry and audience, this research incorporates the audience perspective into the picture, and compares it with the official accounts, promises and offerings of these platforms. Drawing on semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted online during the Covid-19 pandemic (a period, as most of the interviewees confirm, of increased VOD consumption) with audience/users of Netflix, MUBI and BluTV, this study explore how new forms of film & TV viewership emerge together with the changing viewing habits, with their continuities and deviations from the traditional modes of media spectatorship.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Ildir Asli

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The global objective of this proposal is to promote civil society dialogue through the establishment of cooperation between institutions in Turkey and the EU, by focusing on the sector of cinema and film-making as cultural heritage values in the Çukurova Region and the city of Adana in particular. The specific objective of this proposal is to promote cross-border dialogues and networking between CSOs and other stakeholders in Turkey and the EU, by raising awareness, sharing experience/knowledge and cultural/creative production in the field of history of cinema. The main partner is Flying Balloon Children and Youth Association and we work with the Radio, Television and Cinema Department at Çukurova University. The project entails 1. field activities: Identification of cinema theatres and other cinema and film-making related places in the Çukurova Region recording, itinerary development for city cinema tours, etc.2 digitalisation activities: Building an interactive web tool for mapping of cinema spaces; digital library of Cine-House collection 3. Artistic content development activities: Film/Documentary making, compilation of film musics of the region and 4. Awareness-raising and knowledge transfer activities on cinema heritage: Seminars on cultural heritage and cinema history of the region (mainly young people), organisation of city cinema tours, training of young people as city cinema tour guides, study visits to the EU, film screening, film musics performance, etc. 5. Travel of young students to Belgium for a short training.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project examines the participation of women in boxing and the wrestling sport of lucha libre in Mexico between 1930 and 2000. It responds to the relative lack of academic attention for the complex mechanisms and effects of gender transgressions by women (i.e. women taking up roles that have culturally been coded as masculine), which have served as motors for historical change and emancipation. My innovative approach confronts the findings from a more conventional historical research practice based on newspaper and archival sources with the qualitative analysis of narratives obtained from oral history interviews, which allows me to investigate both the socio-cultural constructions that impacted women's involvement in boxing and wrestling in Mexico, and the ways in which individual women experienced and navigated such discourses. Central attention is paid to the relations of power in the field of boxing and lucha libre in Mexico, and how these are tied up with gender, ethnicity, social class and commercialisation. This enables me to move beyond the dichotomy within current academic debates about women in combat sports in the Anglo-American and European context, that either constructs this participation as a form of liberation or, due to its perceived sexualisation, as a continued form of exploitation. This project provides new insights about discourses of self-sexualisation, employs an intersectional approach, and decentralises western perspectives in history.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: de Smaele Henk
• Co-promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Van Bavel Marjolein

Research team(s)

• Power in History - Centre for Political History

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research aims to explore the relationship between new screen production and exhibition spaces and urban transformation in Istanbul. In the last two decades Istanbul, like many other metropolitan cities, witnessed a dramatic urban transformation. The reconstruction projects created new screen production sites by transforming post-industrial areas such as old ports and docks, abandoned factories into creative locales as well as new exhibition sites such as multiplexes, luxury city club movie theaters, hotel and museum screening halls which are adapted to the neoliberal urbanite consumption trends. This research will focus on both physical and representational spaces in the city and in audiovisual fiction to provide a comprehensive understanding on the relation between media production, consumption and urban studies. The overall research uses a multimethod approach, combining relevant approaches for each individual case study (e.g. content and visual analysis for cases on screen representation; media-ethnography and institutional discourse analysis for cases on production and exhibition spaces).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Kayhan Müldür Sezen

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project focuses on the development of tools and practices that relate to cultural heritage, ICT and sustainable local development from the logic of public spaces, places and memory, valuing the main results of the first stage in different contexts and institutions, in order to contribute to its integrated management. The development of heritage information systems and methodologies for intervention in heritage buildings are some of the tools that integrate the project within the wider societal context.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Favero Paolo S H
• Co-promoter: Marquez-Barja Johann
• Co-promoter: van Zimmeren Esther

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Located at the heart of Western Europe and together serving as the direct predecessor of the European Union, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (the Benelux) are closely connected historically, politically and culturally. Nevertheless, they differ greatly in terms of national identity, making the countries particularly interesting to compare. This research project aims to make such a comparison by examining the role of the media in the contemporary construction of national and transnational identities. More specifically, the project focuses on how films and film policies in Belgium (Flanders and the French Community), the Netherlands and Luxembourg relate to (trans)national identities. The time frame of the project starts in 2009, when the Euro crisis began, and runs until 2018. The study relies on quantitative and qualitative research methods, making use of digital tools and involving analysis of films, policy documents, film (policy) production and circulation data, press documents and expert interviews. The project provides an innovative contribution to the international academic agenda due to its comparative and small media industries approach and its focus on the contemporary relationship between media and (trans)national identity in Western Europe. FWO Senior Postdoctoral Fellow with Ghent University as host institution (supervisor Daniel Biltereyst) and the University of Antwerp as partner institution (supervisor Philippe Meers).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Vande Winkel Roel
• Fellow: Willems Gertjan

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

With the support of Inbev-Baillet Latour Fund this Chair was founded to stimulate the film education and research at the University of Antwerp, within the context of research group Visual Studies and Mediaculture and the master Film Studies and Visual Culture of the department Communication Sciences (Faculty Political and Social Sciences).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Pauwels Luc

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project investigates how female characters were represented in films of the Yugoslav New Cinema and the Black Wave Cinema (1961-1972), in terms of the narrative, and the visual style. A main focus hereby is how in many of these films women are suffering from various kinds of violence. The Yugoslav New Cinema movement occurred in the former Socialist Federal Republic Yugoslavia, as part of world-spread New Wave movements, such as the French Nouvelle Vague. Black Wave Cinema then is a subdivision of the Yugoslav New Film, characterized by grim endings and a harsh critique towards the Communist regime. We approach the films of these movements from a gender and media studies perspective, with inspiration from feminist film theories and representation theories. The study also takes into account the sociopolitical context, namely the official gender equality policy of the Yugoslav state and its practices in society. This framework leads us to reformulate the overarching problem of the representation of female characters in New Yugoslav Cinema and Black Wave Cinema into two hypotheses and a research question: 1. If female characters are passionate, independent and progressive, they will eventually be punished cinematically for those transgressions by the remnants of the patriarchate within the course of the narration. (RH1) 2. The figure of the raped woman in the films is an allegory of a raped nation. (RH2) 3. Are the films under research confirming the binary stereotypes of female characters - either virgin or whore- or do they subvert these stereotypes? (RQ3) This set of hypotheses and research questions is operationalized in a quantitative content analysis (of 143 films WP1) and an in-depth qualitative content and visual analysis (of a smaller sample of 10 films WP2). Firstly (WP1), a database of films is constructed (WP1.1) and a first quantitative analysis (WP1.2) is executed to investigate basic content information: main parameters of female characters, numbers and types of violence against women, etc. Secondly, a qualitative analysis (WP2) is undertaken on a sample selected from the database. The qualitative content analysis (WP2.1) examines how women are violated: by rape, murder, beating or victimization; and whether and how they are stereotyped. The visual style analysis (WP2.2) looks into the same films analyzing filmic parameters such as camera movement and position, editing, light, music, composition and color and how these function within the narrative content.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Vukovic Vesi

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project studies the role of media and ICTs in the lives of refugees. These technologies, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops have become key resources for refugees. So far little systematic research has been done on this topic. Refugees are usually studied in terms of discourse and representation, i.e. as "passive", "voiceless" objects of study. This study, however, will take on an original, on-the-ground, perspective, looking at different stages of the refugee trajectory. Combining different methods (expert interviews, document analysis, personal surveys, observations and in-depth interviews), the study looks at media and communication infrastructures that are provided to refugees, as well as their actual needs, uses and experiences. Attention is also paid to structural constraints, governance issues, and the tension between human rights and securitization. This is connected to broader theoretical debates on cosmopolitanism and identity. Two cases will be studied: adult refugees in a refugee camp in Sanliurfa (South Eastern Turkey) and adult refugees in Brussels (Belgium), each representing different populations and distinct national political contexts, as well as different communication infrastructures. Because of its potential to contribute to the living situations of refugees, the project is supported by crucial partners: the local Sanliurfa camp, UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Fedasil, and Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Smets Kevin

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

With the support of Inbev-Baillet Latour Fund this Chair was founded to stimulate the film education and research at the University of Antwerp, within the context of research group Visual Studies and Mediaculture and the master Film Studies and Visual Culture of the department Communication Sciences (Faculty Political and Social Sciences).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Pauwels Luc
• Co-promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project focuses on the relationship between national identity and contemporary film policy in Flanders. The aim of the project is 1) to investigate the (regional, national and supranational) government film policy framework and to analyse the role of film policy in 2) the production context of films; 3) the promotion, distribution and exhibition of films; and 4) the sort of films and the representations that are produced. Throughout the analyses, the complex relationships with Flemish identity take a central place. At the same time, several other contemporary film policy issues (e.g. transnational dimensions and digital challenges) are taken into account and the Flemish situation is put into a comparative and European perspective. The relations between film, policy and national identity will be explored through multi-methodological quantitative and qualitative research, involving policy documents analysis, analysis of film (policy) production and circulation data, expert interviews and textual film analysis. Apart from its relevance for recent Flemish and Belgian film historiography, the project provides an innovative contribution to the international academic agenda by focusing on the largely neglected field of film policy studies (particularly within the broader framework of the established field of media policy). Moreover, the project contributes to a better understanding of the contemporary relationship between media and national identity in Western Europe.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Willems Gertjan

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Cinema 3C : approaching cinema culture from comparative, conceptual and convergence perspectives. Cinema 3C consists of 3 research strands: with a focus on reflection and analysis of ongoing (comparative) research and international publications. 1. Comparative perspectives: cross-national and -continental comparisons of cinema cultures in Belgium, Spain, Mexico and Colombia. 2. Conceptual perspectives: from the concept of 'audience' to 'spectator' and back. 3. Convergence perspectives: film audiences in the era of digital convergence.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The central aim of the project is to explain the diverging cinema cultures in the Low Countries, by a long-term comparative analysis of cinema cultures in the port cities Antwerp and Rotterdam, seen in relation to the formation of social identities, particularly in the context of (de)pillarization.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Fellow: Van Oort Thunnis

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand Erasmus Mundus. UA provides Erasmus Mundus research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand VLIR. UA provides VLIR research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Favero Paolo S H

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The main objective of the research project is to analyze Belgian cinema – particularly those films dealing with our former colonies and intercultural films – through the postcolonial lens, and so (1) to dialogically contribute to both cinema studies and postcolonial studies and (2) to contribute to the historiography of Belgian cinema.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Pauwels Luc
• Fellow: De Groof Matthias

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The general objective is to conduct a comparative study on the role of popular fiction – narrowed down here to popular fiction that is primarily produced for television – in the negotiation of pan-Kurdish identity against the background of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. Looking at popular fiction in a cohesive way, the project includes sub-studies (cf. research packages) on the production, content and reception of Kurdish fiction.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Vande Winkel Roel
• Fellow: Smets Kevin

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Proposed by the University, the Francqui Foundation each year awards two Francqui Chairs at the UAntwerp. These are intended to enable the invitation of a professor from another Belgian University or from abroad for a series of ten lessons. The Francqui Foundation pays the fee for these ten lessons directly to the holder of a Francqui Chair.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand VAF. UA provides VAF research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project focuses upon young people's engagement with digital screen culture in Flanders. Although the audience, and young people in particular, is often explicitly (or implicitly) present in discourses of the film industry and policy makers, large scale up-to-date surveys of audiences are lacking. Therefore, we propose a study on young film audiences, as a major shift in media and film culture has become manifest: young people are digital natives, born into a digital media environment, living in a fast developing world of downloads and streaming video.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This is an artistic photographic research project on the relationship of visual arts with heritage, propaganda and censorship in Iran. The study follows two tracks: 1. the Taziyeh, a cultural expression in Iran incorporated as a propaganda instrument by the regime and 2. the censorship of the baha'ism and the demise of the associated heritage. The photographic study analyzes the possibilities for critical representation within visual arts of both tracks.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Pas Johan

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

With the support of Inbev-Baillet Latour Fund this Chair was founded to stimulate the film education and research at the University of Antwerp, within the context of research group Visual Studies and Mediaculture and the master Film Studies and Visual Culture of the department Communication Sciences (Faculty Political and Social Sciences).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Pauwels Luc

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand Erasmus Mundus. UA provides Erasmus Mundus research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

There is a clear need for a high level specialized media and film education in Palestine. Currently many of the film makers in Palestine had their training abroad. In the very sensitive political situation it is important that Palestinians produce their own documentaries and fiction, creating their own voice and representation. The main objectives of the project are twofold and complementary: 1. The enhancement of the existing programmes in media 2. The feasibility study for and the establishment of a new minor in film making within the media studies bachelors.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand the Flemish Public Service. UA provides the Flemish Public Service research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The project proposes a multimethodological investigation into the post-war evolution of film exhibition and reception in the city of Antwerp (1945-2010) with a focus on the Rex-group. A systematic analysis of the development of Antwerp's cinema landscape and a large-scale reception study of press and audience discourses allow to link institutional history to the moviegoing experience.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project investigates the film culture(s) of diaspora in Belgium. A case study analyses and compares the film cultures of Indian, North African, Turkish and Jewish minorities living in the city of Antwerp. The structural analysis of film distribution and exploitation is combined with a reception analysis. Special attention is given to the contributions of such film cultures to the construction of cultural identities.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Vande Winkel Roel

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The PhD project investigates the self-image of West- and Central Africa as it has been presented in the post-colonial narrative films from 1963 until 2007. It compares these representations with European cinematic representations from the same period. The comparison allows for a cultural-philosophical critique on Eurocentric representations of 'the Other' starting from postcolonial film-studies, post-structural anthropology and deconstruction philosophy.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Oger Erik

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project investigates the film culture(s) of diaspora in Belgium. A case study analyses and compares the film cultures of Indian, North African, Turkish and Jewish minorities living in the city of Antwerp. The structural analysis of film distribution and exploitation is combined with a reception analysis. Special attention is given to the contributions of such film cultures to the construction of cultural identities.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Vande Winkel Roel

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

André Vandenbunder (1918-2002) was professor of semiotics at the former UIA and lecturer in film analysis and semiotics at the Filmmuseum Brussels. The goal of this project is twofold: 1. the electronic and annotated contextualised print publication of the works of Vandenbunder on film semiotics and analysis. 2. The scientific and social contextualisation of his work in the Flemish/Belgian and international setting.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The explorative project wants to lay the foundations for a study of the self-image of West- and Central Africa as it has been presented in the post-colonial narrative films from 1963 until 2007. It compares these representations with European cinematic representations from the same period. The comparison allows for a cultural-philosophical critique on Eurocentric representations of 'the Other' starting from postcolonial filmstudies, post-structural anthropology and deconstruction philosophy.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The central aim of this project is: to draw a blueprint of the animation film sector in Flanders. This aim is achieved trough the following research questions: Is there such a thing as a Flemish animated film sector and can it be defined? What is the profile of the professionals in animation? What is the profile of the companies and their activities in animation? What are the opinions of the different actors within the sector on their proper sector? What is the relation between education and profession? How does the government deal with animation? What are the crucial data of the subsidized animation production? How can the Flemish animation be situated within the European context? Part one is a database, with an inventory of the actors in animation. Part two is a survey among professionals, companies and students. Part three consists of interviews with main players in the field. The figures / data are the foruth part: subsidy files from the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds and the Administration Media (budget, percentage of subsidies etc), figures on the European animation industry (figures from Cartoon Forum en Cartoon Movie, Eurimages and European Audiovisual Observatory). The literature survey gathers insights from existing research and theoretical frameworks. The project formulates explicit policy options to strengthen the animation in Flanders.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The central aim of the project is: A diachronical analysis of the social role of screen culture in Flanders (1895-2004) as a result of the tensions between commercial and ideological forces (in particular 'pillarisation') and the actual consumption, through a study of cinemas and film consumption in interaction with modernity public space and urbanisation. This central aim is realised in three research parts: PART 1 This part consists of an extended inventory of existing and historical cinemas in Flanders (1895-2004) with attention for the geographical distribution and the relations between the commercial and the 'pillarised' circuit. PART 2 Analysis of the interaction between ideology (in particular 'pillarisation'), economics and screen culture through diachronical research on cinemas, film exhibition and programming in metropolitan (Antwerp and Ghent), provincial (Deinze, Lier) and rural context (Geel, location to be determined). P ART 3 Analysis of the interaction between ideology, economics and film consumption through historical audience research on the role of cinemas and film consumption (cinema, video, DVD, television, internet) in the experience of leisure culture in Antwerp, Ghent, Deinze, Lier, Geel and a location to be determined.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Meers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Beyen Marnix

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project aims to continue and further develop the current 'Film and Image Culture in Antwerp and Flanders' project (PA-UA 2003-2005) which was set up to stimulate academic education and research in this domain and to invigorate ways of cooperation among different scientific, cultural and artistic institutions in the area. The core activity comprises conducting and further developing the highly successful Master Program in Film Studies and Image Culture, which is to date a unique offering in Flanders. Also further effort will be put in the cultivation of different research lines that will explore the visual both in fundamental and more applied ways. Scientific and cultural events (conferences, exhibitions, workshops and festivals) will be developed to further connect to various specialised and lay audiences.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Pauwels Luc
• Co-promoter: Meers Philippe

Research team(s)

• Visual and Digital Cultures Research Center (ViDi)

Project type(s)

• Research Project