Tag: Cinema Studies

From Pushkin to Pravda: Russia and the Caucasus Through Popular Media

Presenter: Maryam Moghaddami – Cinema Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Susanna Lim

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

On October 4, 2021, somewhere between Izmailovskaya station and Pervomayskaya station, a fight occurred and resulted in the severe beating and consequent hospitalization of a man by his three adversaries. This story might have been entirely overlooked had it not been for the ethnicity of the men involved which turned into a nationwide sensation. The three men, Dagestanis, severely injured an ethnic Russian male whose only provocation turned out to be his defense of a woman who the three men were harassing.

This paper seeks to examine the depiction of this incident in Russian mass media and discuss its relation to perceptions of identity and nation. In order to do so, this paper will begin by closely reading the depiction of the Circassian male, arguably the 19th century’s de facto “Caucasian male” or “kavkazets” in Alexander Pushkin’s “A Prisoner in the Caucasus.” Pushkin’s work is also notable in its formulation of the Russian identity through its designation of the “kavkazets” as being the “Other.”

This paper will look at the descriptions of this incident and contrast the characteristics assigned by Pushkin and those touched upon by the media covering the incident. Additionally, the paper will emphasize the idea of the “Russian” and the “other” and show how this distinction is emphasized through geography. With the current high in Russian nationalism, the impact of this incident will also be discussed in relation to Russian identity.

Affect and New French Extremity: Aesthetics of Traumatic Memory

Presenter(s): Lisa Deluc — Cinema Studies

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—HURF

This thesis hopes to highlight how a particular film phenomenon in early twenty-first century France demonstrates the concepts of traumatic affect eloquently through its aesthetic and formal tendencies. Commonly known as New French Extremity, this phenomenon touched on transgressive subjects in extreme and often viscerally challenging ways. This work into New French Extremity hopes to bring about a broader understanding of how art communicates traumatic memory through formal elements of storytelling. Ultimately this research seeks to better understand how bodily experience is affectively contagious and how cinema facilitates this communication through formal and aesthetic means.

River Stories: Preserving and Sharing Oral Histories and Traditions of the McKenzie River Valley Using Video and Audio Media

Presenters : Starr Hathway, Adrian Robins, Jacob Sembler

Mentor : Kathryn Lynch

Major : Environmental Studies, Cinema Studies

Poster 39

The McKenzie River Valley sustains a unique heritage that is in danger of being lost. The purpose of River Stories is to preserve the oral histories and traditions of the area before they are forgotten. Our goal is to share the stories we collect with the Eugene/Springfield community, as well as the residents of the McKenzie Valley and their families. The River Stories team is collecting these accounts from McKenzie River area residents that run the spectrum from river guides to local artisans. While conducting weekly interviews, the team employs an anthropological approach to capture the endangered community knowledge, specifically using audio and video formats. River Stories then uses transcription, audio logging, and video editing to create a product that is ready for community-wide dissemination. Thus far, 13 weeks of fieldwork have yielded findings that help piece together the McKenzie’s grander story. The team has inter- viewed 20 individuals from over a dozen pursuits including boat building, fly fishing, and sustainable agriculture. This term, the team is developing a mini-documentary series which aims to communicate findings to the Eugene/Springfield community. This project will encourage further documentation and appreciation of the McKenzie River Valley, setting a foundation for the connection of genera- tions and neighboring communities.

Estrella Symbolic Portrait

Presenter(s): Kat Sincuir Alvarez—Anthropology/Cinema Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Lynn Fujiwara

Session 2: Common Reading

This art was created as an inspiration from the significant amount of symbolism Helena Viramontes portrays of Estrella within the book of Under the Feet of Jesus . To begin, Estrella explains her agony and confusion when she thinks back to the ‘Sun Maid’ raisins logo, as it is a happy white woman . Estrella could not feel more different than the woman in the box . She is a Latina with a pained face as her hands are all cut from the grape vines . I found this to be incredibly important to her character, the vines in my painting symbolize her entangled chains that only bring her down to the field work she is so stuck in . When drawing Estrella, I wanted to recreate her as the young lady I imagined her to be, beautiful, broken, dirty and sad . While she may dream of tomorrow and is a strong character I chose to draw her vulnerable side as that is what almost everyone fears, and yet that is what makes us most human . Our experiences make us the people we are, and for Estrella, the reality is that she is hopeless and yet she decides to be hopeful . Her eyes hold a small galaxy of stars, the one’s she is both named after and looks up to in an attempt to reach for a better tomorrow . Lastly, Estrella
is clutching to wood as she is clutching to the barn . Since the beginning of the book, Estrella had a feeling that was almost spiritual with the barn, while it was falling down and it was old, there was some sort of refuge within it . And yet, she struck a deal with Perfecto to tear it down if it meant he could go to the clinic . Alas, she leaves Alejo alone in the hospital and she goes back into the barn to look at the stars . What will be of the barn?

Emery Owens Abstract

Presenter(s): Chelsea Pitarresi—Journalism, Cinema Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Dan Cheung

Session 4: Let’s KIDD Around: KIDD Creative Writing Program

“Emery Owens” is a story of the liminal spaces of life; the peculiarity of the early stages of adulthood and adult relationships, when you have been given both the freedom and restrictions of an established adult, but have no idea how to take advantage of them . Max finds comfort in these in-betweens, and has difficulties moving to the next “big thing” his life has to offer . While adjusting to surprising annoyances in his new job at the bowling alley, Max leans on his brand-new relationship with Delilah for comfort . As the relationship progresses though, he finds himself not wanting to break the illusions of perfection that newness can offer relationships, and directs his anxieties towards Delilah’s unusual pet, Emery Owens . When I first started writing the story, I was focused purely on the strange dynamic between Max and Emery Owens and was writing with a very specific and dramatic ending in mind . However, as my writing came into shape, I found the real value of Max’s story in the smaller moments .

The Influence of Russia in the Former Soviet Republics and Beyond.

Presenter(s): Maryam Moghaddami—Cinema Studies, Psychology

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

Historically an international and regional power, Russia once more dominates the headlines with Russian influence seen from Ukraine to the United Kingdom and even Bolivia . Russia’s rise to prominence and the concurrent conservative wave that has swept many countries in Europe and beyond serves as a chilling echo of the Soviet Union .

In this research project, I will examine the recent history of Russia in relation to its neighbors and the current tactics used to exert political, economic, and cultural influence over the former Republics in order to better understand how Russia’s increasing global authority is a reflection of its dominance within its sphere of influence . Additionally, I will explore the parallels in these recent issues to those of the Soviet Union and consider what may be said about Russia’s future given the USSR’s past . In
my research I investigate and analyze news publications, scholarly journals and magazines, and data published by non-governmental as well as governmental organizations . For many years now Russia has been striving to exert control over the former Soviet Republics that crowd the eastern Russian border . My research demonstrates how Russia also utilizes its significant soft power in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to further Russian influence over the countries in these regions and their peoples .

“It Was A Miracle:” How Salt of the Earth’s Production Model Threatened The Hollywood Blacklist, Existing Power Dynamics in Film Production & Labor Relations

Presenter(s): Arantxa Calles—Cinema Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Priscilla Ovalle

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

The Hollywood Blacklist was an effort by major film studios to ban filmmakers with leftist politics who were negatively implicated in relation to the trials conducted by the House of Un-American Activities Committee during the 1950s . The “Independent Productions Corporation” was formed around the basis of organizing that blacklisted talent to tell stories of other oppressed peoples through filmmaking . Although there were plans for many such projects, due to the brutal, often violent, repression of their inaugural project, Salt of the Earth (1954), only the one was able to be made . Even after its unlikely completion, the film was prohibited from being shown in cinemas, instead finding a life in underground circuits . Some academic study has been done on the Hollywood Blacklist but much more needs to be dedicated to the ways filmmakers organized against this censorship in order to fill that gap in the fields of filmmaking and labor history . The use of first hand accounts of the production and other published writing that aimed to detail this process were the main sources used . This research revealed how this production model served as a strong challenge to the censorship of diverse political ideas of the time and as an alternative for individuals who wanted to make independent films far before the popular Independent film movement of the US was even established . Only by shining a light on the censure, repression, and scapegoating of the past can we avoid similar conditions in the American media production of the future .