Mode of Production: Theoretical and Methodological Approach
Image credit: photographed by İrfan Simsar for Unsplash
The raised questions will be answered through a production studies approach, which combines film studies with social sciences, anthropology, geography, and political economy. While auteur studies have largely coded film authorship as male, production studies have consistently engaged in what Banks (2018) calls “non-binary interdisciplinarity” to address power hierarchies and cultural inequities in the production process.
Building on what Banks (2018) describes as production studies’ feminist legacy, which starts with Hortense Powdermaker’s classic study of the Hollywood studio system in the 1940s, AGE-C will focus not just on the representation of older women on screen, but on the struggle for that representation. Based on qualitative interviews, archival research and production and distribution statistics AGE-C will trace the production and distribution process of key cases from screenwriting to funding and casting to production, post-production and marketing, including festival screenings and awards.
In particular, AGE-C will trace whether and how demographic data shape decision making in production companies and funding bodies; whether and how innovative artistic solutions can be traced to deliberate choices at the level of screenwriting, casting and mise-en-scène; and how the work of professional networks of actors, producers and directors help explain the increase in starring roles for older female actors. This approach promises to shed light on sources of increases in power for women in European film industries, but also on the continuing obstacles proponents of equitable and inclusive representations of ageing and gender in cinema face in the production process. The project will also attempt to measure the impact of inclusive audiovisual policies in contemporary Europe.
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