#IFM Newsletter - Issue 3 - February 2025

 

Welcome to our network newsletter! We are thrilled to share with you the latest developments in our mission to make a positive impact in our community. We invite you to share your news and relevant calls with us! In this newsletter you can expect: Accepted Presentations for #IFM2025 Resonances Conference Program A list of the papers, research creation presentations, and book release events that will be featured in the #IFM2025 Resonances Conference. #IFM Resonances:  Dan Streible Join your #IFM colleagues on March 4 at 3pm ET for a #Resonances conversation with Dan Streible. Conversations across Screen Cultures An online initiative featuring live interviews and discussions with film and media scholars, media artists, and programmers continues its 2024-2025 season on February 18 at 7:00pm ET with Anna Huff. #IFM Journal  Call for Articles: Publish with the Interactive Film and Media Journal: Where Theory, Innovation, and Creativity Meet. Accepted Presentations for #IFM2025 Resonances Conference Program We are excited to unveil the list of presenters selected for the 7th Interactive Film & Media International Conference. Every proposal underwent a rigorous review process by at least two members of our Organizing Committee.   Our four-day event from Tuesday, June 10, to Friday, June 13, 2025, will now span in several time zones. Keep updated! We congratulate all selected presenters and warmly welcome the new ones to the #IFM community! Research-creation proposals accepted (alphabetical order by title) Drink The River: Towards an embodied understanding of the Eden Rosa Prosser (Independent, UK) Everything We Did: Perpetual Karaoke, Film, Archive, Performance, Exhibition  Maria Ruban and John Lloyd (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) Living Room: An Interactive Documentary  Caterina Sartori (University of Manchester, UK) Lucid Assemblage  Quinn McMahon and Jenna Ng (University of York, UK) Resonating Histories: Guaman Poma and Machiavelli in Pixel Art   Nico Valdivia Hennig (University of California, Riverside, USA) Solastalgia: Documenting Disaster Through Interactive Documentary Jolene Armstrong (Athabasca University, USA) and Monique Tschofen (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) Papernest: Insects through the Lens of Multimedias                                         Anne E. Pfister, Alexandria Kledzik and Susie Mabry (University of North Florida, USA) Paper proposals accepted (alphabetical order by title) “I Love Talking To You Guys About These Books”: How BookTubers Build Community Through Viewer Address  Jennifer L. Peña (University of Miami, USA) And Yet… The Paradox of Generative AI Griefbots  Siobhan O'Flynn (University of Toronto, Canada) Compañía de Funciones Patrióticas: Artistic Activism, Virtuality, and Performance in Argentina  Maximiliano de la Puente (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) Echoes of the Canadian Aporia: NFBC’s Media Resonances and the Democratic Public Sphere  John Bessai (University College of the North, Canada) Empathy and Resonance in Interactive Digital Climate Fiction: The Role of Theory of Mind  Niveda B and Anitha Devi V (Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India) Exploring Resonances in Audio Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis of On the Record  Sven Yan (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China) From the Death of the Author to Digital Darwinism: Teaching with Artificial Intelligence, Digital Media, and the Resilience of Identity  Rena Kim (Independent, USA) Happenings: Finding New Forms for Traumatic Shared Histories   Monique Tschofen (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) Howlround: Urban Resonances and Feedback Loops in the Art of Loopntale - Melanie Wilmink (Woosong University, South Korea) I Am Not Myself: Exploring Identity, Satire, and Social Critique Through Digital Avatars on Instagram Nawa Fatima and Mohd Fehmeed (AJK Mass Communication, Jamia Millia Islamia, India) Interactive Storytelling, User Agency and Emerging Gender Narratives in the Web Space Bassey Nsa Ekpe (Akwa Ibom State University, Nigeria) and Uwaoma C. Nwazue (University of Maiduguri, Nigeria) Listening and Affection in an Interactive Documentary: A Practice-Research Approach  Ana Sofia Fernandes de Almeida (University NOVA of Lisbon, Portugal) Ludonarrative Media as a Bridge Toward the Complexity Out There: An Interdisciplinary Lens Revolving Around the Resonance Theory  Pratama Wirya Atmaja, Andreas Nugroho Sihananto, Tri Puspa Rinjeni, and Rizka Hadiwiyanti (University of Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jawa Timur, India) Performing Public Space: An Antidote for Hegemonic Spaces through Short Format Dance Videos in India  Annie Johnny (Independent, India) and Sruthi V S (Plaksha University, India) Playful Knowledge Transfer as a Response to Crises   Jasmin Kermanchi (University of Hamburg, Germany) Reclaiming Reality: The Ethical and Participatory Power of Interactivity in Documentary Storytelling  Hudson Moura (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) Recycling Images and Creating New Meanings - The Use of Amateur and Family Photography in Brazilian Contemporary Short Movies  Sabrina Tenório Luna (Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil) Reflections from the Urban Classrooms: Technology, Self, Surveillance and Datafication  Shruti Nagpal (Independent, India) Representation of Reality and Truth: An Analysis of Media Objectification at the Rohingya Refugee Camps in Bangladesh  Maruf Rahman (University of Texas at Dallas, USA) Senses and Sense-ability: From Care to Resonance   Sabine Winter (University of Texas at Dallas, USA) The Digital Carnivalesque, Chaos and Humour: Testo Taylan’s YouTube Channel as a Space for Subversion and Social Resonance  Duru Başak Uğurlu (Hacettepe University, Turkey) The Resonant Mine: From Labor Strike to Artistic Action  Arturo Delgado Pereira (Aalto University, Finland) The Weight of What Was: Lingering, Memory, and Temporality in Immersive Media  Livia Alexander (Montclair State University, USA) New books session (alphabetical order by title) The Multiverse as Theory in Postmodern Speculative Fictional NarrativesThe Multiverse as Theory in Postmodern Speculative Fictional Narratives Angelica Cabrera Torrecilla (Osaka University, Japan) and Francisco Saez de Adana (University of Alcala, Spain) Virtual Reality Narratives: Embodied Encounters in Space  Kath Dooley (The University of South Australia, Australia) The 7th IFM Annual Virtual Conference engages with the theme RESONANCES, exploring how media fosters deep and meaningful connections in our daily lives. This year’s conference delves into how personal and communal experiences shape our interactions and understanding of the world. We encourage submissions that critically engage with the theme and its subtopics, including: Response: How do we form thoughtful responses to crises in an unstable world? Resilience: How can media practices adapt and resist in the face of 21st-century challenges? Solidarities: What strategies can build solidarities across social differences to challenge dominant narratives? Collective: How can collective actions and media practices deepen shared experiences and foster alternative futures? The conference promotes inclusivity and equity, with no fees for participation or publication. #Resonances event  featuring Dan Streible Please join your #IFM colleagues on March 4 at 3:00pm ET for a #Resonances conversation with Dan Streible. The #Resonances conversations are an extension of the #IFM conference – an opportunity for our community to gather in discussion around our mutual work and interests. The events will feature #IFM members in conversation with artists, scholars and practitioners. Click here to register for this event Dan Streible joined the NYU Cinema Studies faculty in 2006 as an Associate Professor. In 2014 he transitioned from Associate Director to Director of the department’s master’s program in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation. Since 1999, he has organized the biennial Orphan Film Symposium, a four-day international gathering of archivists, scholars, curators, and artists devoted to the study and preservation of all manner of neglected moving images.  He teaches courses in film history, curating, archival research, and documentary, and has published historical research on movie exhibition, early cinema, amateur works, nontheatrical film, and moving image preservation.  His publications include the book Learning with the Lights Off: Educational Film in the United States (2012, co-edited with Devin Orgeron and Marsha Orgeron), which was named Best Edited Collection by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies in 2013. Streible also authored the books Fight Pictures: A History of Boxing and Early Cinema (2008), and Emile de Antonio: A Reader (2000, co-edited with Douglas Kellner). In 2012, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named him an Academy Film Scholar.  He has organized and curated ten editions of the NYU Orphan Film Symposium, most recently at the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (April 2016) and EYE Netherlands Filmmuseum (2014).  He serves on the National Film Preservation Board and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (2004-06). Conversations across Screen Cultures features Anna Huff on February 18 Conversations Across Screen Cultures, an online initiative featuring live interviews and discussions with film and media scholars, media artists, and programmers continues its 2024-2025 season on February 18 at 7:00pm ET with Anna Huff, Assistant Professor of Digital Arts at Hamilton College. Anna Huff’s work spans performance, sound, technology, mixed media, and interactivity. She frequently engages intersections of body, object, and ritual to reveal social and technological structures that tie individuals to communities. Huff is also a founding member of media performance collective Cloud Eye Control, creating interactive and time-based work that addresses speculative futures and the impact of technology on the human psyche. She also has released several albums of music under the moniker Anna Oxygen. She has special interests in interdisciplinary pedagogy, collaboration, and potentials for “liveness” and community building across digital and hybrid platforms. Huff was a recent performance fellow at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Additional performances and presentations include the New Museum; Redcat, Los Angeles; MoMA PS1; and Festival A Mil, Chile; among others. She previously taught at Cornell University’s Department of Art, and the CalArts Center for Integrated Media. Huff holds an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts, and a B.A. from The Evergreen State College. Conversations Across Screen Cultures is a collaboratively produced speaker series that creates space for dynamic conversations among screen studies scholars and practitioners. Sessions feature open discussion and dialogue between speakers and attendees. Begun by Patty Zimmermann during the pandemic lockdown, Conversations Across Screen Cultures honors Patty’s legacy by promoting connection and collaboration as critical modes for screen studies practice. Click here to register in advance for this meeting After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Direct any inquiries you may have about this event to: shafer@hws.edu. #IFM Journal Call for articles Publish with the Interactive Film and Media Journal: Where Theory, Innovation, and Creativity Meet. We invite submissions from scholars, practitioners, and artists engaging with themes across digital storytelling, interactive cinema, gaming, VR, AI, social media, activism, and much more. Our journal champions interdisciplinary and critical approaches to film, media, and technology, seeking contributions that challenge conventions and foster inclusivity, equity, and dialogue. By publishing with us, your work becomes part of a global conversation within a community of readers and creators. Submission Highlights: Continuous Publication: We operate on a rolling publication model, with one continuous issue per year. Accepted papers are published as soon as they successfully complete our double-blind peer review process, giving your research the opportunity to reach readers quickly. Publication Types: We accept Original Research Papers, Creative Works, Case Studies, Book Reviews, and Interdisciplinary Essays that offer new perspectives on film, media, and digital studies. Open Access: All publications are free to access, ensuring that your work is widely and freely available to a global audience. To learn more about submission guidelines and become part of a journal that’s redefining film and media scholarship, visit our submission page. Make your contribution to the future of film and digital media studies—submit today! Submit your article to #IFM Journal #IFM Newsletter  |  Issue 3 - February 2025 Send your news or inquiries to ifmjournal@torontomu.ca Communications Coordinator: Leah Shafer Design: Darius Shah and Marta Fiolić Copyright ©2025 IFM Network

#IFM Newsletter - Issue 2 - December 2024

 

Welcome to our network newsletter! We are thrilled to share with you the latest developments in our mission to make a positive impact in our community. We invite you to share your news and relevant calls with us! In this newsletter you can expect: IFM Announcements Resonances meetings New IFM social groups now on BlueSky and Mastodon #IFM2025 official poster and visuals Conference Extended Deadline: Call For Proposals #IFM2025 Resonances Conference Book Series Call for Chapters: Interactive Narratives Anthology Book #IFM Journal  Call for Articles Resonances meetings After the 2024 IFM Conference, the organizing committee met for a post-conference evaluation meeting during which we read through and discussed the conference survey results. One theme that surfaced repeatedly was enthusiasm for sustaining the IFM community beyond the in-person conference experience. In addition to developing new social media presences (see below) the organizers felt that holding short, thematic conversations throughout the year would provide a starting point for the kind of year-round discussion that IFM participants would like to cultivate. Starting in 2025, the IFM organizing committee will host quarterly RESONANCES events, during which our community can gather for focused, thematic discussions. The focus of these events will be on conversation and idea generation, and they will be organized around short discussions and/or presentations by folks working in interactive film and media.  Look for an announcement about our first Resonances event in the January newsletter.  New IFM social groups now on BlueSky and Mastodon In our November newsletter we announced the termination of our presence on X and the establishment of IFM discussion boards on WhatsApp and Discord. Our Discord server includes spaces for: introductions, general chat, announcements, CFPs, ongoing projects to keep an eye on, and a collaborator-finder space. The WhatsApp space is designed to foster dialogue and help build and fortify the IFM community through the topic-based groups and sharing of important announcements. We plan to use the WhatsApp community to keep in touch, keep talking, sharing, getting to know each other and to create fruitful connections and debates beyond the annual event.   In this spirit, we invite you to continue building IFM’s inclusive, empowering online presence by also joining us on Mastodon and BlueSky. We are hoping that robust member use of these online spaces will support IFM’s collaborative ethos and commitment to meaningful dialogue, mutual respect, and collective action. Because IFM members are spread across the globe, we are hoping these asynchronous online tools will create time and space for the types of dialogue we encounter when we meet in conference.  Because we are new to these spaces, we welcome thoughts about how they can best serve our community. As we begin to develop these online spaces, we propose that the Discord server’s “general chat” area can initially hold space for discussions of how, why and when we choose to use the affordances of these different online tools.  Join #IFM Blue Sky Join #IFM Mastodon #IFM2025 official poster and visuals We are thrilled to unveil this year’s #IFM2025 Resonances poster and visuals. For the past three years, designers Anika Vielhauer and Darius Shah have presented the IFM organizing committee with a variety of options from which the committee has selected the conference visuals. This year we are excited to share with you Anika and Darius’ design rationale along with the posters and visuals for #IFM2025 Resonances. This year would be our third year collaborating on the poster design for the IFM Annual Conference. It has become something we’ve come to really look forward to. From the moment we get the brief to the excitement, and occasional pangs of panic when staring at a black screen, our experience working to crack a visual that feels right for the conference has always been truly rewarding.  This year’s theme of Resonances speaks to an ability to form deep meaningful connections with the power to evoke emotions and stimulate the senses. Where depth is found not in the chase but the simplicity of daily interactions. This is why we’ve chosen to simplify our overall design with a minimal approach set against a darker colour palette. Our main element of two intersecting circles that weaves into each other point to the intricate nature of how we communicate. We really enjoy diving into the broad, often abstract, and occasionally even polysemous topics. What excites us the most about the design process is the challenge of tackling these ambiguous concepts. The challenge we least enjoy, being on opposite sides of the world, is finding the right time to catch up. But it is also our different perspectives that help inform our approach in a way we hope translates into a design that effectively conveys the theme of the conference to a wider audience.  Anika Vielhauer and Darius Shah EXTENDED DEADLINE CFP: IFM2025 Resonances Conference  CALL FOR PROPOSALS IS OPEN! #IFM2025 - Interactive Film & Media Annual Conference June 10-13, 2025, via Zoom Extended Deadline: December 16th, 2024 The 7th IFM Annual Virtual Conference invites you to engage with the theme RESONANCES, exploring how media fosters deep and meaningful connections in our daily lives. This year’s conference delves into how personal and communal experiences shape our interactions and understanding of the world. We encourage submissions that critically engage with the theme and its subtopics, including: Response: How do we form thoughtful responses to crises in an unstable world? Resilience: How can media practices adapt and resist in the face of 21st-century challenges? Solidarities: What strategies can build solidarities across social differences to challenge dominant narratives? Collective: How can collective actions and media practices deepen shared experiences and foster alternative futures? We welcome proposals for papers, research-creation projects, and new book presentations from academics, artists, filmmakers, and media practitioners. Submission Details: Papers: Submit a 500-word abstract outlining your research objectives, methodology, and hypotheses. Research-Creation Projects: Provide a description, research objectives, and theoretical framework. New Books: Showcase your latest publication and participate in a dynamic discussion on the writing and publishing process. The conference promotes inclusivity and equity, with no fees for participation or publication. Visit our website for details and submission forms Call for Chapters: Interactive Narratives Anthology Book The transformative potential of interactivity within novels, films, games, and digital media has created a dynamic dialogue between human creativity and technological innovation. From the epistolary novel to immersive digital media, interactive storytelling has evolved, challenging traditional, linear modes of narrative while fostering new relationships between creators, audiences, and interactive platforms. This anthology, Interactive Narratives—The Evolution of Storytelling in the Digital Age, seeks to explore the multidimensional nature of interactivity across various narrative platforms in the XXI century. By tracing its historical roots and mapping its modern manifestations, this volume will investigate how the concept of interactive narratives is reshaping narrative experiences and the theoretical and practical implications for creators, audiences, and archivists. We aim to compile cutting-edge research and theoretical reflections highlighting interactivity as a narrative tool and a mode of user agency that adds complexity to storytelling while expanding the boundaries of narrative engagement. Focus Areas of the Volume: The book is tentatively organized into five core sections, each offering conceptual directions to help orient contributors regarding the thematic focus and structure. These frameworks are intended as points of reference to inspire proposals rather than prescriptive theories to be strictly applied. Contributors are encouraged to develop their ideas within these themes without needing to specifically reference or apply the outlined theories or authors: 1. Duality and Ethics of Active and Passive Engagement: Drawing on Žižek's theory, interactive narratives blend both active and passive user roles. While user choices may appear to guide the narrative, interpassivity reveals how users sometimes adopt passive modes in complex digital systems. This section invites contributors to explore how narratives shift between user participation and algorithmic controls, balancing user agency with predetermined outcomes. Or, contributors may reflect on the ethical implications of user manipulation in digital storytelling, questioning the boundaries of user freedom versus design control and potential biases created by algorithmic choices. 2. Technological Affordances and User Agency: Building on Janet Murray’s framework of procedural and participatory affordances, this theme will explore how technological design and procedural logic shape the boundaries of user agency in interactive storytelling. Contributors are encouraged to examine how technological innovation balances freedom and constraint within interactive narratives, enhancing narrative engagement through user-driven interaction and system-generated structure. 3. Perceptual and Affective Dimensions: This section focuses on how user perceptions of interactivity—including narrative complexity, emotional engagement, and user impact—create immersive and emotionally resonant narrative experiences. Contributors are invited to explore how interactive storytelling fosters emotional depth and audience attachment through perceived control and reactive content, where user actions seem to directly influence narrative outcomes. 4. Narrative Complexity and User Involvement: Drawing upon Henry Jenkins' concept of additive comprehension, this section will address how narrative complexity and user involvement are intertwined in interactive storytelling. Contributors are encouraged to examine how branching storylines, multiple endings, and user choices can deepen the complexity of narratives, creating richer and more immersive experiences without diminishing the overall structure. This section will explore how interactive narratives balance user participation and maintaining narrative depth. 5. Archiving Digital Culture: Drawing on Foucault’s insights alongside practical approaches by scholars like Lowood, Kirschenbaum, and Rinehart, this section critically frames digital archives as sites of preservation and power, shaping cultural heritage and access to interactive media. Contributors are invited to explore the preservation of virtual reality, multimedia installations, software, interactive fiction, and video game narratives. This area emphasizes innovative solutions for maintaining these media's interactive and experiential qualities for future research and accessibility. This volume will unite diverse perspectives and pioneering research, significantly contributing to the rapidly growing field of interactive media studies. Submission Guidelines: We invite proposals from scholars, researchers, and practitioners across fields such as Comparative Literature, Film and Game Studies, Digital Humanities, Cultural Studies, and Interactive Design. Abstracts should be approximately 500 words, include five keywords, a 50-word bio, and contact information. Please submit your chapter proposal as a single Word document  to hmoura@torontomu.ca.  Chapter Requirements: Final chapters should be 4,000-6,000 words, adhering to MLA 9th edition. Full chapters are due by 14 July 2025. Important Dates: Abstract submission: 13 January 2025 Abstract selection: 10 February 2025 Chapter submission: 14 July 2025 About the Volume: This volume will be part of the Interactive Film and Media (IFM) Book Series, published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. The series aims to advance scholarly discussions on interactivity in film and media. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Hudson Moura (hmoura@torontomu.ca). We look forward to receiving your proposals and insights into this evolving field. #IFM Book Series Call for articles: #IFM Journal Publish with the Interactive Film and Media Journal: Where Theory, Innovation, and Creativity Meet. We invite submissions from scholars, practitioners, and artists engaging with themes across digital storytelling, interactive cinema, gaming, VR, AI, social media, activism, and much more. Our journal champions interdisciplinary and critical approaches to film, media, and technology, seeking contributions that challenge conventions and foster inclusivity, equity, and dialogue. By publishing with us, your work becomes part of a global conversation within a community of readers and creators. Submission Highlights: Continuous Publication: We operate on a rolling publication model, with one continuous issue per year. Accepted papers are published as soon as they successfully complete our double-blind peer review process, giving your research the opportunity to reach readers quickly. Publication Types: We accept Original Research Papers, Creative Works, Case Studies, Book Reviews, and Interdisciplinary Essays that offer new perspectives on film, media, and digital studies. Open Access: All publications are free to access, ensuring that your work is widely and freely available to a global audience. To learn more about submission guidelines and become part of a journal that’s redefining film and media scholarship, visit our submission page. Make your contribution to the future of film and digital media studies—submit today! Submit your article to #IFM Journal #IFM Newsletter  |  Issue 2 - December 2024 Send your news or inquiries to ifmjournal@torontomu.ca Communications Coordinator: Leah Shafer Design: Darius Shah and Marta Fiolić Copyright ©2024 IFM Network