The Archive and Researching Women's Professional Careers in the Italian and UK Film Press
| Dates: | 11 March 2024 |
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| Times: | 16:30 - 18:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Arts, Languages and Cultures |
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| Speaker: | Stella Scabelli, Victoria Lowe |
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This event on The Archive and Researching Women's Professional Careers in the Italian and UK Film Press, chaired by Dr. Silvia Angeli, comprises two presentations:
Stella Scabelli: Paola Ojetti.
The editorial secretary Paola Ojetti and the other women collaborators of Film magazine (translators, foreign correspondents, authors of serial novels, etc.) played a central role in the life of this Italian weekly during the 1930s and the 1940s. The aim of the research, carried out as part of the project PRIN “Per una storia privata della critica cinematografica italiana. Ruoli pubblici e relazioni private: l’istituzionalizzazione della critica cinematografica in Italia tra anni Trenta e Settanta” (PRIN 2017 – Principal Investigator: Paolo Noto), is to trace the careers of these female journalists, neglected in historical reconstructions, re-establishing their place in film criticism and journalism of Fascist Italy.
The main fund consulted is the Fondo Mino Doletti, kept at the Cineteca di Bologna, which contains Film's editorial correspondence from the months before its foundation in 1938 until the post-war period.
The purpose of this presentation is to briefly present the results of this research, as well as the methodological questions it revealed. The perspective adopted has focused attention on activities and professions that are often underestimated, on the possibilities and the obstacles that these women had to deal with in their careers, on their social networks and on the intertwining of professional and private life. This approach contributes to a renewed interest in the contribution of women to film history and gender history during the fascist period, where microhistory plays a central role.
Victoria Lowe: C. A Lejeune
Caroline Alice Lejeune (1897-1973) was one of the most important film critics of her generation, with a newspaper column in the Observer from 1928 to 1960. There has already been some excellent work on Lejeune (Bell: 2010, Bell: 2011, Stead: 2017), which recognizes her substantial contribution to British film culture, but they have focused on her published work. Her archive (acquired in 2021 by John Rylands Library) provides the unique opportunity to examine the processes that went into the final published piece from initial contacts with producers and distributors, the writing of notes during screenings and editorial interventions before reviews and articles went into print.
The presentation will briefly review the research conducted thus far on Lejeune. As one of the few public arenas historically available to women to make their mark in film culture, it will survey what kind of criticism Lejeune produced, whether it differed from that of her male contemporaries, and how Lejeune used film reviewing to address specifically female audiences. It also aims to think through the relative institutional, industrial, and cultural barriers to women’s progression and participation in this field.
This event forms part of CIDRAL's Archives series of events. It will be followed by a wine reception.
Speakers
Stella Scabelli
Organisation: Bologna
Victoria Lowe
Organisation: Manchester
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
A3.7
Ellen Wilkinson Building
Manchester
