University News Last updated 10 March 2016
A selection of industry experts, including Hong Kong film producer and Asian film expert Bey Logan, are planning to join forces on Friday 1 April to discuss a range of themes emerging around contemporary martial arts cinema in the digital age.
The international one-off event attracting experts from Cardiff to Cologne is scheduled to take place at Birmingham School of Media, housed in Birmingham City University’s state-of-the-art City Centre Campus.
The inspiration
Inspiration for the event was generated by the successes of the recent 2015 English-language Swedish martial arts short film ‘Kung Fury’ as well as field-defining book Martial Arts Studies: Disrupting Disciplinary Boundaries by Dr Paul Bowman of Cardiff University. Dr Oliver Carter, Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Theory at Birmingham School of Media said:
Co-organiser Dr Simon Barber, Research Fellow at Birmingham School of Media, added:
Planned topics
This multi-disciplinary event, funded by The Martial Arts Studies Research Network, has been organised by Dr Oliver Carter and Dr Simon Barber of Birmingham School of Media and will include insights into film festivals, marketing, promotion and fandom amongst many other specialist areas of martial arts cinema.
Guest speakers
Scholars and practitioners set to attend emerge from a variety of backgrounds including theoretical, industrial and educational specialisms. The extensive selection of confirmed speakers includes talks from Bey Logan, Vice-President of Asia for The Weinstein Company and Author of ‘Hong Kong Action Cinema’ and Dr Susan Pui San Lok, Associate Professor at Middlesex University.
For more information on the event and how to register as well as a full list of guest speakers, please visit the official Eventbrite page.