Feminist knowledges, subversive actions and autotheory in filmmaking practices & production studies

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

We are at a critical juncture in film production culture: a time in which the rigid and questionable structures of the film industry appear to have been challenged. In 2020, I embarked on a doctoral study of the political framework of contemporary film production from an intersectional feminist perspective. My research aims to re-articulate the histories and scholarly studies of film production cultures and develop new filmmaking pedagogies. I enter this research as a practicing Film Producer, situated in Finland. Previously, I had worked as a scenographer and costume designer in Greece. My professional experiences sparked me to study and contemplate the field of filmmaking. Hence my study differs from the existing approaches of Production Studies conducted by Social Scientists. The purpose of my doctoral study is to articulate and formulate a revision in the field of filmmaking, in terms of language, expectations, priorities, working conditions, education, and context. Through an archival component, I engage with publications initiated by filmmakers and film workers during the 20th century, which I pair with practitioners' interviews and contemporary auto theoretical texts. Film and Production Studies are heavily associated with the Anglophone academia; hence I concentrate this research project on Balkan Countries, the Mediterranean region, and Eastern Europe (including the Baltic Countries and Finland). The scheduled outputs are: [1] an accessible filmmakers' toolkit [2] a digital archive of publications and texts initiated by filmmakers in the geographical, historical, and cultural context of Eastern Europe [3] The first Feminist Production Studies conference in Finland [4] my doctoral dissertation, a monograph. They are directed to filmmakers, film students, individuals, and collectives working with moving images and seeking to understand filmmaking as a social tool. They bring everyday working life to theory.