New York (2015) – Call for Short Films and Videos
New York (2015) – Call for Short Films and Videos The Terrace Club 25 W. 51st St. (Off Fifth Ave.) Manhattan, New York City September 2-3, 2015 Are you a researcher, filmmaker, broadcaster, videographer or screen image artist critically exploring celebrity culture and journalism in media? Receive a screening opportunity of your work and eligibility for $100 CMCS screen award at the Celebrity Chat (CC) Screening event in Manhattan, New York City. The screening will offer an international platform for creative researchers, filmmakers, broadcasters, and video artists that critically...
Read MoreKim or Caitlyn? Breaking Boundaries in Fame
A question that often comes to our mind: why is fame an important area to reflect on? For me, fame has had a pervasive presence in how fans engage in pleasures and identification, and in how they develop para-social relations with celebrities. The relationship is both material and symbolic. Fan practices such as circulation and re-mixing of celebrity images and texts have physical components. The practices also reflect and reinforce imaginary relations that hold affective and cultural values While the Kardarshians offer pleasures of hybrid identities, they also silence articulations of and...
Read MoreConference Corners
I have just over 7 days left for the inaugural Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) conference in Toronto – it will be an honour and pleasure to finally meet all delegates in person. Part of me is in New York as I am also organizing our next media conference there and being interviewed for Shannon Skinner’s new radio show this week. I am grateful for the opportunities to speak and looking forward to sharing views on celebrities at the conferences and in media. Historically, stardom had its origins in Hollywood where film played a role in creating the actor as a star....
Read MoreNew York (2015) Bridging Gaps: Where is the Persona in Celebrity and Journalism?
The Terrace Club 25 W. 51st St. (Off Fifth Ave.) New York, NY September 2-3, 2015 In tabloid journalism and in social media, gossip, rumors and scandals about celebrities develop intimacy among fans. Such gossip and rumour mongering serves a purpose in society: to build a common moral ground on the backs of celebrity lives. However what about the celebrities themselves whose emotional lives are consumed by us? The production, circulation and reception of these celebrities then negate the democratic role of journalism in providing value-free information and undermine artistic talent and...
Read MoreRed Light Express
Can a red light become just light? I think so. I am not talking about traffic lights or electromagnetic radiation. I am talking about red light districts, where girls are trafficked in sex trade. My cousin Trina Talkudar, co-founder of anti-trafficking NGO Kranti, empowers Asia’s most infamous red-light area in Mumbai and turns daughters of sex workers into agents of social change. I was in awe and admiration when I heard personal stories during her graduation in Washington D.C. last month. I was also pleased to meet and share time with Sheetal Jain, one of the revolutionary daughters who...
Read More
Recent Comments