Philippe Meers

The international telenovela debate and the contra-flow argument: a reappraisal

Latin American telenovelas are often considered an interesting case in international communication theory and research, illustrating the potential of Third World cultural industries for resistance, alternatives and even contra-flow. In this article we first shed some light on the main theoretical frameworks and empirical arguments in the international telenovela debate. In the second part we focus on the contra-flow argument in relation to the worldwide exports of telenovelas. In the case study we concentrate on the telenovela flow to Europe. Both theory and case study stress the weakness of the contra-flow argument.

Memories of cinemagoing and film experience: An introduction:

Over the past two decades, the relationship between cinema and memory has been the object of increasing academic attention, with growing interest in film and cinema as repositories for representing, shaping, (re)creating or indexing forms of individual and collective memory. This Special Issue on memory and the experience of cinemagoing centres on the perspective of cinema users and audiences, focusing on memories of films, cinema and cinemagoing from three continents and over five decades of the twentieth century. This introduction considers the relationship between memory studies and film studies, sets out an overview of the origins of, and recent and current shifts and trends within, research and scholarship at the interface between historical film audiences, the cinemagoing experience and memory; and presents the articles and reviews which follow within this frame. It considers some of the methodological issues raised by research in these areas and concludes by looking at some of the challenges facing future work in the field.

Diasporic Film Cultures from a Multi-level Perspective: Moroccan and Indian Cinematic Flows In and Towards Antwerp (Belgium)

How and to what extent are diasporic film cultures influenced by power structures and power shifts? This question is addressed in a twofold case study of Moroccan and Indian film structures in the city of Antwerp (Belgium). The analysis presented here is based on 27 semi-structured interviews with experts such as distributors, exhibitors, social workers, and programming managers. The research results, uncovering a complex model of multileveled power structures, demonstrate that developments in diasporic film cultures are not only dependent on homeland production, but are also crucially influenced by local actors, who determine those developments to a large degree. It is further demonstrated that networks of both legal and informal/illegal transnational and transdiasporic circulation play crucial, intertwining roles. The case studies thus show how diasporic media consumption and film in particular can only fully be grasped when attempting to understand the tension between local environment, its position within transnational networks, and homeland industries.

Bollywood and turkish films in Antwerp (Belgium): two case studies on diasporic distribution and exhibition

Abstract This article, a contribution to the thriving scholarship on the engagements between homeland media and diasporic audiences, breaks new ground through a comparative, political economy inspired analysis of two case studies with transnational implications. First we describe the theatrical distribution and exhibition of homeland films towards/by their diasporas, focusing on Indian and Turkish film structures in one location, the Belgian city of Antwerp. Interviews with 45 key players, participant observation and complementary archival research allow us to reconstruct how privately organised film screenings were substituted by commercial initiatives. Further analysis exploring the relations between local exhibitors and transnational distributors evaluates these structures against the background of global media industries’ developments in terms of power and transformations, such as increasing competition.

Bollywood tracks towards and through the city : structural patterns of Hindi film culture in Antwerp (Belgium)

The globalisation of Hindi cinema is a topical issue in current media and film research. Whereas the majority of previous studies on Indian film in diaspora have been concerned with issues of audiences and text, this article concentrates on the structural patterns of Hindi film, specifically in the Belgian city of Antwerp. It is inspired by insights from political economy studies which acknowledge the balance of power and global dynamics from a local perspective. Using distribution and exhibition analyses based on interviews, surveys and archival research, this study examines Hindi cinemas tracks towards (selection and distribution) and through (promotion and exhibition) the city, mainly in multiplex theatres. These analyses adopt a historical approach and reconstruct how the exclusive film culture of one community has been transformed into a more elaborate commercial enterprise, revealing both continuity and change in power relations, public, urban and transnational spaces as well as audience management. This study demonstrates the dependency of a diasporic film culture on the greater context of global cinema history, and the way in which peripheral marketplaces such as Antwerp are becoming increasingly subject to transnational corporations and their strategies.

Film at the border: Memories of cinemagoing in Laredo, Texas

This article addresses the memories of 28 filmgoers between the ages of 64 and 95 in Laredo, Texas – a city located on the border between the United States and Mexico. It explores respondents’ memories of US and Mexican films, actors and local venues against the historical background of a fluid and complex border. In particular, it examines the negotiation of cultural identities among residents with strong connections to Mexican heritage but who are also influenced by the structural characteristics of the American political, economic and educational systems.

Film-viewing in Turkish and Moroccan diasporic families: a gender and place perspective

This article explores the relation between gender identities and spatial aspects of audience reception by means of a case study on film-viewing in the Turkish and Moroccan diasporic communities in the Belgian city of Antwerp. Drawing on feminist and gender approaches to audience reception on the one hand, and research into the spatial dynamics underlying audience reception on the other, we look at film-viewing as a socially and spatially meaningful practice that is relevant for the understanding of gender identities in diasporic families. This article is based on the results of a four-year project on diasporic film cultures in Antwerp that investigated how film-viewing practices relate to social and cultural dynamics within the Turkish and Moroccan communities. The data that are discussed include participant observations, in-depth interviews and group interviews with a varied sample of people with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds. The results show that although film-viewing, especially in the public space of the film theatre, can be mobilized by women as an emancipating social practice, gendered power structures often prevail. Also in the domestic contexts, a more traditional gender division is articulated by the respondent concerning family viewing. We conclude that the space of the film theatre and film-going serve the continuity and stability of gendered family relations, rather than subverting them.

Sharing the Silver Screen: The Social Experience of Cinemagoing in the Indian Diaspora

Despite the growing attention paid to the social practice of cinemagoing and to Indian diasporic film cultures, little research has combined these two topics. This article looks into issues of community as well as discursive practices occurring at the intersection of these two phenomena. First, it examines the physical community formation generated by the theater space as a setting for watching homeland films, in accordance with more general theories about diasporic communities and media consumption (Georgiou, 2006). Second, it looks into the audience discourses that precede and follow the actual cinemagoing act (Gillespie, 2002; Staiger, 2000). Based on a case study in the Belgian city of Antwerp, large-scale as well as in-depth insights are developed through a multi-method approach, combining analyses of in-depth interviews with the results of an exploratory cinema survey. These revealed that Indian diasporic cinemagoing is limited in its community-forming function (by issues of comfort, audience diversity, as well as behavioral conformism to a Western context) and is characterized by transnational discursive practices informing film preferences. A general change in the social experience of cinemagoing occurred in the diasporic context when compared to India and intercommunity differences found expression in cinemagoing culture.

Lo que el viento no se llevó. El cine en la memoria de los españoles (1931–1982)

relationship ‘between the text and its producers and the texts and its consumers’ (p. 124). Chapman oncludes that media study has come a long way over the last 40 years to offer a ‘bottom-up’ view of film history that ‘has perhaps eclipsed some of the wider theoretical issues’ (p. 125). He calls attention to work on non-European cinemas, emphasis on economic and cultural shared developments across national boundaries in production, and ‘the shared experiences of many national cinema audiences’ (p. 127). Moreover, study has shifted away from textual analysis to facilitate a film history that ‘properly explores the larger picture of cinema’s social agency in the twentieth century’ that theoretical approaches alone have failed to provide’ (p. 129). The reader will have to judge whether Chapman’s view of theory allows him to deliver a ‘theoretically rigorous understanding’ (p. viii) of the relationship between film and history to chart contemporary and future directions in film studies.

Pride and popcorn: consuming the idea of community at film screenings in the Turkish diaspora.

A range of studies have revealed the interrelatedness of identity construction, community formation and media among diasporas, mostly focusing on domestic contexts. Seeking to add further nuance to the understanding of the social lives of diasporas, we concentrate on media culture in the public environment of the film theatre. The significance of diasporic film consumption is investigated through a local audience study of Turkish film screenings in Antwerp. The phenomenon of the screenings was analysed through a multi-method approach, including 536 questionnaires among audiences, 19 in-depth interviews and 3 group interviews, along with previous findings (on distribution and exploitation) of the same project. The results show that Turkish films are almost exclusively attended by people with Turkish roots, creating a Turkish diasporic space within the boundaries of the urban and the public. The audience study shows that the screenings fulfil a major social role but also affect understandings of community.