Call for Abstracts: Publication on Egyptian Film Posters

City Lights Posters, the leading online collection of vintage Egyptian and Arab movie posters, is currently inviting submissions for its debut special anthology publication, devoted to a wide ranging and multi-layered assessment of Egyptian film posters from the 1930s to 1980s.

Background

Rule number one when you're creating a movie poster is to make it jump out at the viewer, in a way that's both eye-catching and communicative. That's what every professional graphic designer will tell you. The imagery needs to be creative but it's also a means to an end: a movie poster's primary function is to sell the film to an audience. Maybe this function-over-form, mercantile prerequisite is why film posters have largely been overlooked and understudied by the critical and academic community. This is particularly true in the context of Arab cinema, in which movie posters are viewed as simply a necessary element in the marketing toolbox. And yet, when you look through the nearly century-deep output of film posters from the Arab cinema, the creative daring, artistic virtuosity and emotional depth achieved within this format is breathtaking, seemingly against all odds. These art works demand a more serious and analytical review of their history, inspirations and achievements, to deconstruct the beautiful alchemy by which these miracles exist.
 
That's where you can be involved and make an impact.

 

The Postman (1968)
The Choice (1970)
Furnished Apartment (1970)

 

 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: EGYPTIAN FILM POSTERS 1930-1990

We invite entries from a wide range of fields and disciplines to help us create a volume motivated to fill the gap in literature and formal study of the classic era of Egyptian film poster art. Focus is on the history and development of a regional film poster craft/art, including its makers, their inspirations, applied aesthetics, methods, representations and more.

In addition to having articles published, selected contributors will receive a prize of $500, in the form of a stipend to attend either AUC's conference Cinema of the Arab World (Cairo, 2018) or the 2018 Beirut International Film Festival.

Articles should be written in English or Arabic. Articles must be informative and intellectually stimulating, yet entertaining and highly readable to reach a wider audience.

Indicative list of appropriate subjects:
  1. The history of Egyptian film posters: historical development of the craft of poster making, biographical accounts of distinguished poster artists, etc.
  2. Representations of gender, class, nation, ideology, or religion in posters.
  3. Graphic analysis (typography, illustrations, visual composition, color, layout).
  4. The art of storytelling and creation of meanings through posters and visual aesthetics.
  5. Thematic analysis of posters and the films they promote, e.g. a comparative study of posters promoting films belonging to the same genre or about similar topics.
  6. Contextualized analysis of the influence of the socio-economic and political realities of the time on the content and artistic form of the posters.
  7. Posters as simple promotional ads vs. message-driven media propagating or opposing political and social trends.

 

 SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Abstract Submission Format:

  • Abstract 250-300 words
  • Short bio up to 200 words

Submissions should be emailed to info@citylightsposters.com by November 15, 2017. Acceptance notices will be circulated in early December. Selected contributors must submit their articles (3000-5000 words) by January 31, 2018.

For further inquiries, please contact us on info@citylightsposters.com.