Rotura – Journal of Communication, Culture, and Arts
Rotura
- URL: https://publicacoes.ciac.pt/index.php/rotura/chamadas-de-trabalhos
- Call For Paper Type: Regular
- H2 Index: 0
- Submission Date: 2026-04-15
- Notification Date: 2026-06-30
- Final Version Date: 2026-09-10
Humanities, Literature & Arts (General) Crafts, Design & Arts Communication
Mediterranean Film Studios
Film studios have been central in the history of audio-visual media production since the early 20th century, from the early glasshouses to the massive studio lots in Hollywood and elsewhere. Studios exude an impression of glamour and mystery, which has turned many of them into tourist attractions. Yet in film studies, the focus of attention has mostly been on the interpretation of films, on the trajectory of directors, producers, stars, or on the study of audiences and exhibition sites. In those studies where studios feature, they are often amalgamated into the story of production companies, as necessary tools to achieve financial targets, rather than as specific sites worth of study in their own right.
Studios are laboratories of innovation and creativity. They are physical structures that reflect their function, but which also mediate architectural and wider cultural trends. They are work environments structured around specific conventions, rules, policies and collaborative practices, and they can be seen as microcosms of wider social and political developments. It is this multifaceted nature of film studios that has recently begun to be rediscovered by scholars, especially in the work by Brian Jacobson (2015 and 2020) and Street et al. (2026).
While the history of the major Hollywood studios has been relatively well documented, there is, with few exceptions (e.g. García de Dueñas and Gorostiza, 2001, Street 2024), comparatively little work on studios elsewhere. Street et al have mapped the studio histories of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy from the early sound period to the late 1950s, while stressing the interaction and transnational traffic between these countries. Jacobson’s anthology provides a broader range of case studies and periods, but in their distinct focus, they lack wider transnational contexts and interactions.
Recognizing the need to reconsider regional and transnational connections and networks, this CFP builds on these interventions and invites contributions that explore the histories of film studios in the Mediterranean space (Southern Europe, North Africa, the Levant), from the early days of cinema to the present, and their relations with each other. We are particularly interested in the following topics:
- Histories of individual studios
- Studios as symbols of national culture
- Transnational studio relations
- Studio architecture and design
- Afterlives of studios as heritage, tourist attractions, or real estate
- Working practices
- Technological changes
GUEST EDITORS
Tim Bergfelder, University of Southampton (UK)
Jorge Manuel Neves Carrega, CIAC – Research Center for Arts and Communication, University of Algarve (Portugal)
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