Research Seminar Series - On The Margins of Where?: Representations of the Mainstream and the Marginal in Local and Global Cinema

We are pleased to invite you to our Wednesday Research Seminar. It will be held on 12 February from 4pm, at Middlesex University Dubai in the Oasis Theatre, Block 16, Knowledge Park.

Wednesday Research Seminar Series was launched in 2008, and has featured more than 265 presentations to date. The seminars provide a forum for researchers to share their work. Presenters include faculty from Middlesex University Dubai and other universities in the United Arab Emirates, as well as researchers from other global institutions. Dr. David Tully will deliver seminar on:

“On The Margins of Where?: Representations of the Mainstream and the Marginal in Local and Global Cinema”

David Tully

Abstract

Cinema studies in recent times have come to lionize the era from 1967 to 1975 as the last Golden Age for Hollywood filmmaking, an odd period of creative freedom between the collapse of the classical era Studio System and the rise of the Blockbuster System that we still find mainstream filmmaking locked in. There are startling parallels between Hollywood’s situation in 1967 and its current one – this may signal, if we can learn anything from history, that the era of the Blockbuster is winding down. But if mainstream films appeal to a global audience, where are the off-the-beaten-track, on-the-margin films that would speak more directly to the turbulent cultural revolutions of our own time? Or have we truly come to a time where a viable “alternative” culture is no longer a possibility, engulfed as we all are in the web of social media – and if so, what does that say about the future of filmmaking? In other words, has our vision become so fragmented in the deluge of information, that terms like mainstream and marginal have ceased to hold any meaning, and “marginal” tales are therefore impossible? My discussion will attempt to find some answers to these questions.

Biography

Dr. David Tully holds a PhD in Literature from New York University (USA). David had previously taught at New York University, served as Public Affairs Liaison for the NYU Medical Center, and was Research Manager for News and Specials at VH1, as well as Head of Development for Oscar-winner Volker Engel’s production company in Los Angeles. In Munich, he worked as scriptwriter for TV and features, and headwriter for series. In Dubai, Tobe Hooper directed Tully’s screenplay DJINN. His script THE SANDMAN will be directed by Dario Argento and star Iggy Pop. Joe Dante is attached to direct his CASTING THE RUNES, with Simon Pegg attached to star. Tully has also written the critical biography TERRY SOUTHERN AND THE AMERICAN GROTESQUE, and his novel THE KILLING FLOOR was published by Amazon 47North Press. He is Head of Media and Senior Lecturer in Film at Middlesex University Dubai.

We look forward to welcoming you at the seminar.