B for bad cinema: aesthetics, politics and cultural value
Paracinema is a movement that has grown up around sleazy, excessive, or poorly executed B-movies. It has seen a counter-cultural increase in all forms of cinematic trash or ‘badfilm.’ In many internet and print sources devoted to the celebration of paracinema, the term B-movie has come to mean almost anything: disreputable and unworthy movies, low-budget exploitation movies, straight to TV or video movies, and even big-budget studio movies.
B for BAD cinema provided an opportunity for international film scholars, critics and filmmakers to present their thoughts on badfilm. Particular focus was given to the following themes:
- Cultural value and theory
- Bad feeling and affect
- Aesthetic value and bad art
- Cultural morals and politics
- Bad film/media theory and criticism
Date
15-17 April 2009
Venue
Monash University, Clayton campus, Victoria
Program
B for Bad Cinema program 
558 kb
Invited speakers
- Adrian Martin (Monash University)
- Ernest Mathijs (University of British Columbia)
- Angela Ndalianis (University of Melbourne)
- Murray Pomerance (Ryerson University)
- Jeffrey Sconce (Northwestern University)
- Jamie Sexton (University of Aberystwyth, Wales)
Abstracts
B for Bad Cinema abstracts 4.13 mb
Conference party
Thursday 16 April 2009, The Order of Melbourne
Publication outcomes
Conference publication outcomes included:
- B for Bad Cinema, edited collection, Wayne State University Press.
- Colloquy: text theory critique Special issue. An electronic journal of interdisciplinary work by postgraduates.
- Scope: an online journal of film and TV studies. Special issue to be confirmed.
- Continuum – Journal of Media and Cultural Studies
Contact
Sponsors
- Rydges on Swanston Melbourne
- Monash University Arts Faculty