Call for Abstracts: Publication on Egyptian Film Posters

Background

Rule number one when you're creating a movie poster is to make it jump out at the viewer, in a way that's both eye-catching and communicative. That's what every professional graphic designer will tell you. The imagery needs to be creative but it's also a means to an end: a movie poster's primary function is to sell the film to an audience. Maybe this function-over-form, mercantile prerequisite is why film posters have largely been overlooked and understudied by the critical and academic community. This is particularly true in the context of Arab cinema, in which movie posters are viewed as simply a necessary element in the marketing toolbox. And yet, when you look through the nearly century-deep output of film posters from the Arab cinema, the creative daring, artistic virtuosity and emotional depth achieved within this format is breathtaking, seemingly against all odds. These art works demand a more serious and analytical review of their history, inspirations and achievements, to deconstruct the beautiful alchemy by which these miracles exist.
 
That's where you can be involved and make an impact.

1. The history of Egyptian film posters: historical development of the craft of poster making, biographical accounts of distinguished poster artists, etc.
2. Representations of gender, class, nation, ideology, or religion in posters.
3. Graphic analysis (typography, illustrations, visual composition, color, layout).
4. The art of storytelling and creation of meanings through posters and visual aesthetics.
5. Thematic analysis of posters and the films they promote, e.g. a comparative study of posters promoting films belonging to the same genre or about similar topics.
6. Contextualized analysis of the influence of the socio-economic and political realities of the time on the content and artistic form of the posters.
7. Posters as simple promotional ads vs. message-driven media propagating or opposing political and social trends.