The 2025 conference highlights a diverse range of topics, from mediated realities and technological imaginaries to visual aesthetics, cinematic environments, and the evolving forms of media representation. Across two days, participants will closely look into classical film and media studies issues, while exploring contemporary questions about digital technologies, environmental aesthetics, and global cinematic trends.

Keynote Speaker: Neta Alexander, Film and Media Studies alum and Assistant Professor of Film and Media at Yale University

Tickets

Schedule

Friday, February 14

Welcome and Introduction

12:00 PM Introduction by Nico Baumbach, Film and Media Studies

Module 1: Mediated Realities and Technological Imaginaries

12:30 PM Presentations (20-30 minutes per person + Q&As)

• Jingyi Zhang, The Visibility and Invisibility of Operational Images

• Jiacheng Li, Burn Book: Modern Information Spread in Moving Image

• Ann Wang, Transarctic Studies; Technological Discourses; Media Infrastructures

• Aileen Min, East Asian Art & Technology; Digital Water & Nature; Presence and Absence in Digital Space

3:00 PM Break

3:30 PM Keynote Speaker Session by Neta Alexander: Horizontal Media and Sleep Apps

5:30 PM Break/Dinner

7:00 PM Film Screening: eXistenZ (dir. David Cronenberg, 1999)

Run Time: 1 hr 37 mins

Saturday, February 15

Module 2: Visual Aesthetics and Cinematic Environments

11:00 AM Introduction (TBC)

11:05 AM Presentations (20-30 minutes per person + Q&As)

• Matthew Huh, Animation Aesthetics; Blockbuster Filmmaking; Nostalgia

• Bojun Chen, Lucrecia Martel; Film Sound and Environments; Latin America

• Lifei Cheng, From Archive to Avant-garde: Godard, Jude, and the Radical Aesthetic of Essayistic Cinema

1:00 PM Break/Lunch

Module 3: Cinematic/Media Forms and Representation

2:00 PM Presentations (20-30 minutes per person + Q&As)

• Qianhui Ma [via Zoom], Northeast Chinese Films; Film Noir

• Graham Paull, Digital Animation/Filmmaking; Animal Studies; Biopower

• Winnie Wang, Beyond Intersubjectivity: The Sublime and Beautiful in New Media Art

• Ahmed Ezzo, (TBC)

4:30 PM Break

5:00 PM Film Screening: TBC