A&F Top 25: Growing Older -- Call for Papers

[kenmorefield]

Here is a copy of the Call For Papers announcement: https://1morefilmblog.com/2019/06/16/cfp-arts-faiths-top-25/

I have not formally put the book under contract but anticipate no problem in doing so. I am simply waiting until after the July 31 proposal deadline so that I can provide the publisher with a preliminary list of essays.

To be honest, I am skeptical about generating the required number of essays, but one never knows until one asks. If there are less than 10 proposals, I don't think it is worth pursuing. If there are 15 or more, that's sufficient. Between 10-14 would depend on who pitched an essay, how reliable and experienced the writers are, etc.

I will copy the list titles here momentarily, and I will update it if I get any pitches so as to avoid having multiple last-minute pitches on same topic. 

 

1. The Straight Story
2. Late Spring
3. Wild Strawberries
4. Make Way for Tomorrow
5. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
6. Limelight
7. Tokyo Story
8. The Gleaners & I
9. Poetry
10. 35 Up
11. Umberto D.
12. Before Midnight
13. Gertrud
14. Faces Places
15. The Man Who Planted Trees
16. Things to Come
17. Persuasion
18. Summer Hours
19. Another Year
20. Maadadayo Madadayo
21. 35 Shots of Rum
22. Sunset Boulevard
23. You Can't Take it WIth You
24. The Remains of the Day
25. King Lear

[kenmorefield]

FWIW, if the book does move forward, I'm thinking I may write a comparison of King Lear and Sunset Boulevard as sort of male/female nightmares of aging. But...it's hard for me to resist writing about Jane Austen whenever that's a possibility. In previous anthologies, my focus has sometimes changed as other essay proposals came in.

Also FWIW, Joel has expressed some interest/willingness to write the introduction, but I am sure he would also be willing to do an essay if there is a better fit for intro. 

[Joel Mayward]

I'll share the CFP as well and we'll see who sends in proposals. I'm happy to write an introduction as well as an essay (or two!) for a film (I wrote blurbs on Before Midnight and Another Year for the list). Thanks for putting this together, Ken!

[Darren H]

I'd love to have an excuse to write at length about Denis's films in this context, but my fall is booked up with other projects. Good luck, Ken!

[Anders]

I have a longer piece on Summer Hours that I've presented as a conference paper and I'd love to expand and revise. I'll throw something together.

[kenmorefield]

2 hours ago, Darren H said:

I'd love to have an excuse to write at length about Denis's films in this context, but my fall is booked up with other projects. Good luck, Ken!

Yep. I'd be pretty surprised if there is enough interest, but I've been surprised before. If not, perhaps thinking about it will add some momentum for doing a Top 100 in 2020. I've got three new course preps for Fall, so I can't say I'd be crushed if it doesn't make. But I do like the idea of having *something* to accompany the A&F lists...and this forum tends to do a little better if there is some sort of communal project as opposed to just chattering about the newest releases (which is fun, I admit). 

Of course, it could be the case in which the board begins to take a shape around a seasonal calendar...with some sort of Top 25 in the first half of the year and the Ecumenical Jury in the end...leaving people the Summer to, you know, live their lives....

[Russ]

Is the group of available films for discussion limited to those in the list?  I ask because I'd been kicking around a comparison piece on MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW and AMOUR and Haneke's film isn't on it.

[kenmorefield]

1 hour ago, Russ said:

Is the group of available films for discussion limited to those in the list?  I ask because I'd been kicking around a comparison piece on MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW and AMOUR and Haneke's film isn't on it.

I'd be okay with a comparison of a film that is on the list to one that is not or to a theme that included films on the list as well as films not on it. I wouldn't want an essay just about a film that wasn't on the list. But I think something like you describe would be fine.

[Andrew]

I'm game for writing a chapter on growing old with either Ozu or Kurosawa, drawing from Eriksonian and/or existential points of view.  If you have a taker for one, I'll gladly write about the other.

[kenmorefield]

It is possible if we had a smaller number of people interested (say 5-8) we could write longer essays, but that would be a bit of a discussion. Will give it some time to see what response rate is.

[Brian D]

I would really enjoy doing a piece on the Growing Older list in relation to the 
concept of legacy.

How does the concept of legacy manifest itself in the lives of these 
characters?
Along with this, how do the films themselves (especially works like 
Limelight and the Varda films) function as a legacy handed down by their 
directors?
As we grow old, what kinds of legacies do we hope to leave?
As filmmakers reach their mature years, what kind of legacies do THEY want 
to pass on to those who will come after them?

This topic could be quite a fruitful one, and in fact could be discussed in 
relation to almost every film on the list. Space likely wouldn't allow for 
treating all of the films, but there is quite a bit of potential for a 
wider overview.
 

[kenmorefield]

Hi All, 

July is coming to an end, and I am needing to make some decisions on this project and getting in lined up with the publisher. I confess that I was feeling like people were a bit more non-committal -- interested but don't count on me kind of thing. Then I reviewed this thread and it sounds like Joel, Anders, Andrew,  and Russ are more firm than....more in the, "I'm in" kind of camp. 

Brian, what about you? Obviously stuff happens, so by commitment, I don't mean in a legal sense, but if this project moves forward will you be willing to submit an essay around the the outline you proposed?

I have another colleague (former student) who I think is considering. I don't think six (me, Joel, Anders, Andrew, Russ, Brian) is enough for the whole anthology, but it is enough (or close to it) for me to put the book under contract if they are firm, since there are usually some that are willing to hope on board once deadlines and things are more explicit or the project is underway. 

If any others would like to participate other than the five I've already mentioned, speak up or PM me. 

Ken

[Joel Mayward]

I am definitely in for the book, and would also be open to writing a second essay on the two Varda films as a way of examining Varda's life/filmography as a key part of the "Growing Older" theme. Besides maybe Godard or Wiseman, I can't think of a filmmaker like Varda who has made her own version of Apted's "Up" series with her own experience of aging as depicted on screen. Her essay/doc films seem to encompass the very essence of the "Growing Older" list, and I'm looking forward to seeing Varda by Agnes next week at a local cinema to see if she has any wisdom on aging for us in her final film.

[Brian D]

I am leaning quite a bit toward being "in".

2 questions for you, Ken:

-By when would you be expecting a draft?

-What kind of length would you be hoping for in each essay?

Thanks!

[kenmorefield]

I have taken this discussion to e-mail.