Queer Cinema from Spain and France: the translation of desire and the formation of transnational queer identities

The project focuses on transnational sexualities and their representation in cinema. It homes in on Spain and France (as sites of production, distribution and reception) and Britain (as a site of distribution and reception), and on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer films and their audiences/viewers. Building on previous film historical work on the processes of transnationalization of cinema and on recent shifts in thinking about queer cultural identities, the project examines specific cases of the trans-European traffic of films and film makers in the context of the notions of queer culture and queer cinema and in the period 1990 to the present day. It examines: the question of the translatability in images of formations of desire; questions of audience and critical reception and cultural translation in relation to taste, fantasy, desire and values; the relationship between cultural flows and the formation and representation of queer identities in national and transnational contexts. It has a close match to aspects of the AHRC Emerging Theme on Translating Cultures and the potential to link with developments therein.

The work involves: archival and web-based investigation (including on-line forums and fan sites); festival visits; film and performance analysis; and audience research. The project will advance the current state of audience research by: engaging with media production and its reception across four languages (Spanish, French, Catalan, English); recruiting its participants across a range of digital and physical audience locations; focusing on queer cinematic production which both chronicles the local (in portraying sub-national identities) and draws on the global (borrowing, translating, transferring, and often exoticising foreign models of queer life). Analyses of the films and performances will take into account discourses and theories of sexuality and difference. The audience research and festival-based presentations directly involve queer communities in a range of locations.

Specifically, analysis will include responses in France to the films of Pedro Almodóvar, Ventura Pons, Marta Balletbó-Coll, Cesc Gay, and others; in Spain of the films of François Ozon, Sebastien Lifshitz, André Techiné, Josiane Balasko, Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau and others; and in Britain to a range of niche-market and festival-based queer French and Spanish cinema (in various formats). The two Investigators have a substantial record in queer cultural analysis and bring together complementary, relevant areas of expertise, as further detailed in the Justification of Resources and the Case for Support.

One joint-authored monograph, seven articles, six conference papers, and a range of local presentations and discussion groups are planned for production starting within the period of the project with a further , linked monograph brought to completion during the first three months (capitalizing on preceding, institutionally supported leave).

Clearly the project is concerned with audiences and individual subjects beyond a traditionally scholarly readership. Consequently, it seeks not only to probe queer interpretative communities and their interaction with the films as objects of the study, but also to connect with these community elements. Festival-based presentations in France, Spain and Britain will target local audiences in order to further debate within interested collectives on issues of queer identity and citizenship. A series of project-related screenings will be organised at the Cornerhouse Manchester (with whom the investigators have an established history of collaboration). The programming team of the London LGBT Festival 2010 have been contacted and are willing to take part in pilot interviews in 2011 and full participation of programmers and select audiences in 2012 and 2013. From March 2013 onwards, events as detailed in the Impact Plan will be organised in conjunction with the regular and festival/showcase programming. There is strong potential for this strand of the activities to be continued on beyond the life of the project.

The aim will not be to view the audiences studied as passive objects of scrutiny, but also to empower them within the framework of the project by asking them to suggest films for screenings or involving them in question and answer sessions with directors, stars, etc.. Key issues at stake will be cross-border and cross-cultural understanding, new ways of seeing the relationship of self to (queer or European) community, and welfare and quality of life for 'minority' groups.

The engagement with local lesbian, gay and queer communities and groups is essential to the project, which reaches beyond the existing established audiences for Spanish and French queer cinemas (and UK- and US-based readerships and viewers) through advertisements and publicity campaigns in the lesbian, gay and queer press, local radio and LGBT local news websites retail outlets and related establishments. Contacts already established with Manchester City Council and the Lesbian and Gay Foundation (Manchester) will facilitate interface with broader educational and health and well-being campaigns.