Speaker: Andreea Mihalcea

This keynote investigates how short-form political videos—TikToks, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts—shaped affective discourse during the 2024–2025 presidential campaigns in Romania and Poland. Focusing on the most widely circulated and emotionally resonant materials from the campaigns of George Simion and Karol Nawrocki, the lecture explores how these media artifacts distilled nationalist sentiment, geopolitical anxiety, and populist rhetoric into potent, compressed emotional performances.

At the core of this analysis lies the concept of accelerated affective tempo, signifying the deliberate modulation of rhythm, pacing, and escalation to provoke immediate, visceral responses within constrained temporal frames. This communicative strategy holds significance for four interrelated reasons: it displaces rational deliberation with affective convergence; it aligns with algorithmic logics privileging brevity and emotional acuity; it demonstrates how contemporary propaganda bypasses narrative coherence in favor of tonal impact; and it establishes a contrast between populist and centrist audiovisual styles.

In Romania, Simion’s strategy was especially distinctive for its sustained outreach to the Romanian diaspora—estimated between 4–6 million citizens, or 20–30% of the national population, one of the largest per capita in the EU. Viral short-form clips reimagined Romanians abroad as moral arbiters empowered to regain national sovereignty against perceived EU and NATO overreach, with over 60% support for Simion in the first round.

In Poland, Nawrocki’s campaign similarly embraced Trump-style populism: short videos emphasizing religious identity, national resilience, and anti-elite sentiment, appealing chiefly to domestic conservative constituencies. Both candidates engaged in a transnational media circuit: Simion and even centrist Nicușor Dan publicly lent support to Polish candidates, underscoring the emergence of a shared digital populist idiom.

Anchored in the most viral audiovisual texts, this talk theorizes short-form propaganda not merely as ideological transmission, but as a temporal architecture—emotional form shaping political affect.

Andreea Mihalcea is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Screenwriting-Film Studies at the National University of Theatre and Film “I. L. Caragiale” in Bucharest, where she teaches courses on the theory, history, and analysis of nonfiction film and media. She holds a PhD in Film and Media Studies, with a dissertation on user engagement in participatory interactive documentary configurations.

Her research explores the intersections of spectatorship, politics, and technology, with a current focus on the work of artist and theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha. She co-organized the 2022 NECS - European Network for Cinema and Media Studies conference in Bucharest and continues to serve on its conference committee.

Beyond academia, she has extensive experience in film criticism, non-formal film education, festival programming, and production. Since 2023, she has curated the ‘New Voices in Documentary Cinema’ international competition at Astra Film Festival and, since 2017, has co- led the NGO Cinefocus, coordinating projects in education, cultural heritage, and digital arts.

This study addresses the paradoxical status of short films in film scholarship: despite their historical roots in cinema (e.g., Lumière Brothers, Méliès) and democratized production through digital technologies (post-2008 DSLR cameras, festivals, streaming platforms), short films remain underrepresented in academic research compared to feature-length films. By employing a descriptive research design, this paper investigates (1) why short films are marginalized as a subject in film studies, (2) whether their shorter runtime correlates with academic neglect, and (3) the role of short film practitioners in shaping scholarly discourse.

Methodologically, the study combines a systematic literature review (2008–present) and semi-structured interviews with academics and filmmakers. The analysis reveals that only 18% of Turkish film studies publications focus on short films, often limited to industrial aspects (festivals, production processes) rather than thematic, aesthetic, or socio-cultural dimensions. This marginalization persists despite the proliferation of short films as tools for experimental storytelling and platforms for emerging directors.

The study argues that short films’ academic ""otherness"" stems from two factors: (a) the perception of short films as ""lesser"" due to their duration, and (b) the dominance of feature-length cinema in institutional frameworks (funding, distribution, canon formation). These dynamics hinder critical engagement with short films’ unique capacity to narrativize emotions, address political crises, and democratize filmmaking—themes central to contemporary film debates.

By highlighting this gap, the paper calls for a re-evaluation of short films’ scholarly value, particularly their potential to decolonize film studies and amplify marginalized voices. The findings urge academia to confront its biases and recognize short films as vital to understanding cinema’s evolving role in digital, social, and educational contexts.

Author: Yigit Armutoglu

Institution: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University

Biography: He completed his BA in Cinema in 2018. His short films—From Majid with Love, Home Sweet Home, and Ivan’s Childhood—have screened at numerous film festivals. He is currently pursuing an MA in Radio, Television, and Cinema at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University.

"This paper investigates the relationship between thematic content and audio-visual style in contemporary short films, aiming to answer the question: In what ways does a film’s commitment to a specific issue predetermine its formal and stylistic choices? The analysis focuses on three recent short films—Two Distant Strangers (2020), The Silent Child (2017), and the Romanian mockumentary Dismissed (2024)— each observing pressing social and ethical concerns: racial police violence, childhood disability and communicative isolation, and corporate misconduct involving artificial intelligence.

Using close formal analysis of realism, affect, and the form-content dialectic, the study examines how narrative structure, cinematography, editing, and sound are mobilized in response to thematic imperatives. Two Distant Strangers employs a looping narrative and rapid montage to represent the cyclical trauma of racial injustice. The Silent Child uses a subdued, realist aesthetic and diegetic silence to immerse the viewer in the sensory and emotional world of its hearing-impaired protagonist. Dismissed, structured as a minimalist mockumentary, adopts an interview-based documentary format and avoids cinematic ornaments, reinforcing the banality and discomfort of corporate abuse.

By comparing how each film’s style emerges from the demands of its subject matter, the paper argues that in issue-driven short films, form is often not merely expressive but ethically and politically motivated. These films demonstrate that aesthetic choices are not neutral or arbitrary, but deeply embedded in how stories are shaped, felt, and received. This research contributes to wider discussions in film studies about how short-form cinema functions as a concentrated space where urgent issues are not only represented but formally embodied through sound and image."

Author: Mihaela Constantinescu 

Institution: National University of Theatre and Film I.L. Caragiale, Bucharest

Biography: Film director, producer, and PhD student based in Romania. Currently pursuing a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies at UNATC ""I.L. Caragiale"", where I also teach as an Assistant Professor. 

"In the current era, with the widespread availability of video production technologies and circulation channels, individually initiated content, many of which is also passion-driven, has become increasingly prolific, often functioning as memos that supplement or resist official narratives. Such content challenges—and at times redefines—the boundaries and limits of institutionally imposed control and direction, mapping a screen space that accumulates and mobilizes power from below.

This paper examines a short documentary born out of the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai in 2022, through a case study of The Memo (2023, Badlands Film Group). The film creatively documents the experience of enduring the lockdown from a personal perspective, incorporating a wide array of footage shot on phones, television broadcasts, internet clips, and more—oftentimes tinged with a humorous or even mocking tone. This project emerges from both passion and exhaustion: passion for documentation, and for the power individuals, civilians, and residents can exert amid overwhelming top-down control and policy-channeled oppression; and exhaustion from confinement, strict quarantine, the loss of personal freedom, and the uncertainty of when change might arrive. While the documentary was filmed in China and the director-duo are Chinese nationals, I hesitate to call The Memo a project or a film from China, because it assertively goes against state expectations and regulatory frameworks, complicating notions of borders, the nation-state, and the usual classification of creative labor. This tension invites a reconsideration of how creative efforts are situated, and/or displaced, within or beyond political borders. I will emphatically investigate how a creative work like this contributes to mapping a civil space through audiovisual recording, enabled by digital affordances, and what it means to chart an affective journey while navigating our conflict- and uncertainty-loaded (geo)political realities."

Author: Yayu Zheng 

Institution: The Courtauld Institute of Art

Biography: Yayu Zheng is the Asymmetry Postdoctoral Fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She holds a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Southern California. Her research interests include Sinophone cinema and visual cultures, queer theory, and media and politics.

In the face of persistent economic precarity and social disillusionment, especially within post-crisis Eastern European societies, emotional fatigue has emerged as a defining feature of everyday life. This paper examines doom spending—a phenomenon in which individuals engage in impulsive, excessive consumption to cope with emotional distress—as both a personal and collective response to uncertainty. The short film Expendable (dir. Leda Contopanagos), officially selected for the Tokyo International Short Film Festival, offers a stark portrayal of this emotional logic. Set in Greece, a country marked by a decade of austerity, Expendable uses minimalist narrative and symbolic excess to foreground the psychological weight of economic instability. Through the story of a young woman whose compulsive purchasing and immediate discarding of goods reflects a deeper emotional numbness, the film captures the affective residue of a generation grappling with lost futures. Her acts—throwing away food for minor imperfections, discarding new clothes, replacing an iPhone after a minor accident—reflect a complex interplay of anxiety, shame, and resignation. Her final confession—that she no longer has expectations or dreams—lays bare a landscape of affective exhaustion that resonates across contemporary Eastern European realities. Drawing on affect theory and discourse analysis, this study explores how Expendable visualizes doom spending not merely as consumer behaviour, but as an emotional survival strategy within a region marked by political instability, eroded social trust, and a faltering promise of prosperity. The film thus contributes to a growing body of Eastern European short cinema that interrogates how economic structures shape emotional life—and how cinematic form gives voice to collective feelings of hopelessness, fear, and fleeting escapism. This study’s findings will illustrate that individuals facing adverse conditions, such as economic instability or personal stress, are predisposed to engage in impulsive or excessive spending, often making unnecessary purchases as a means to alleviate negative emotions or mitigate the impact of these circumstances.

Author: Merve Nur Ozcelik, 

Institution: Suleyman Demirel University

Biography: She earned her BA in English with honours from Süleyman Demirel University in Isparta, Turkey, and completed her MA in English Literature at Cappadocia University. Her thesis examined ecofeminist themes in Doris Lessing's The Grass is Singing and its film adaptation The Killing Heat. Supported by TÜBİTAK, she conducted MA research at the University of Leicester. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Cinema and Television at SDU, focusing on the intersections of literature, film, and ecofeminist theory.

In this presentation I propose an exploration of a practice research project through a screening of my short documentary film Waterlands (2024) - link below - followed by a conference paper. The film considers the collective anxiety felt by the hitherto largely overlooked fenlands community in eastern England in the face of climate change. Through engaging with recent debates in cinema studies around embodied spectatorship (Frampton, 2006; Mroz, 2013; Wartenburg, 2011) I propose a short film production process that seeks to evoke an affective viewer experience through a dynamic editing approach to archival footage. 

As the lowest lying region in the UK the fens of East Anglia is uniquely threatened by climate change through a combination of rising sea levels, increased incidences of rain events and a peat based sinking landscape. Entirely reclaimed from marshland in the 18th century, the fens to this day only maintains its delicate balance between natural environment and human activity through an extensive and complex drainage system. But recent modelling has shown that huge areas of the region could be flooded within 30 years if sea levels continue to rise at the current rate.

While scientists and policy-makers have begun to address some of the huge logistical and economic impact this prospect will have on the region and UK generally, very little is known from the position of those that live and work in this community. How are the fundamentals of work, family and home affected by this existential threat? What is the lived experience for those at the forefront of climate change in the UK?

Making the case for a pre-cognitive and embodied understanding of the film viewing experience Vivian Sobchack stated in 1992, “With every film we engage in we experience moments of divergence and rupture and moments of convergence and rapture.” (1992, p. 286)

More recently Matilda Mroz (2013) has developed these ideas drawing on her understanding of ‘duree’ (Bergson, 2004) and citing Brian Massumi suggests, “Affective sounds, moments or images, suspend linear temporality and do not necessarily fit into narrative progression; affect is what might be called ‘passion’, ‘incipient action expression.’” 

Through the film Waterlands (2004) this research proposes a film production approach based on the notion of “moments of divergence and rupture” which will jolt the viewer from their received expectations of archive based historical film-making. Using a methodology combining interviews with current fenlanders and a footage recycling approach, in keeping with the film’s environmental themes, Waterlands (2024) attempts to capture the affective lived experience of this community, while placing it in historical context. 

With contributors largely off-screen the challenge was to create a sense of anxiety and discomfort though the form of the film. To this end an editing strategy was arrived at in which a range of disparate archives were brought together in its montage that sets to deliberately unnerve the viewer with its uneasy juxtaposition of footage. 

With reference to current debates in affective spectatorship this research presentation will explore production processes and considerations in the making of Waterlands (2024). 

Author: Peter Spence 

Institution: Sheffield Hallam University

Biography: Peter Spence is a practicing film-maker, educator and researcher having produced a range of film and academic outputs in his career to date. He holds a BA (Hons) in History and Politics from Queen Mary University of London and an MA in Screen Arts (Producing and Directing) from Sheffield Hallam University. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a PhD candidate.

Short films often distill emotion with searing precision, and 10 Minutes (dir. Ahmed Imamović, 2002) is a poignant example of cinema’s ability to compress historical trauma into affective immediacy. This Bosnian short juxtaposes two lives unfolding simultaneously in different parts of the world—Rome and war-torn Sarajevo—in order to contrast the emotional weight of ten minutes experienced under radically different circumstances. In Rome, a tourist passes the time idly, developing photographs and smoking a cigarette. On contrary, in Sarajevo, a young boy, Memo, embarks on a routine errand for bread and water, only to return and find his family killed in a bombing. Set during the Bosnian War, the film draws on the aesthetics of contrast—between color and black-and-white, leisure and survival, safety and violence—to evoke a sharp emotional dissonance. The viewer is made to feel the absurd cruelty of simultaneous realities, where the same unit of time—ten minutes—holds vastly unequal emotional and existential significance. The emotional arc of Memo’s journey traces fear, determination, hope, trauma, and overwhelming grief, capturing the raw affective states of life under siege. His resilience in the face of normalized violence sharply contrasts with the tourist’s technological wonder and casual disconnection, foregrounding the uneven distribution of security, privilege, and emotional burden in a globalized world. Drawing on cultural memory studies and trauma theory, specifically that of Cathy Caruth, this paper explores how 10 Minutes constructs a transnational emotional critique through cinematic juxtaposition. The film’s narrative structure and formal choices speak to a broader tendency in Eastern European short cinema to confront historical rupture through intensely emotional micro-narratives. This study argues that 10 Minutes not only documents trauma but circulates it—inviting audiences into an ‘affective border zone’ where global time collapses and human vulnerability is laid bare.

Author: Ilker Ozcelik

Institution: Suleyman Demirel University

Biography: Assist. Prof. Dr. İlker Özçelik teaches in the English Language and Literature Department at Süleyman Demirel University, Türkiye. He is a regional editor for MIT’s Global Shakespeares Archive and a visiting fellow at the University of Leicester. His research focuses on digital textual studies, contemporary Shakespearean performance and cinema. He has organized major festivals and conferences in Türkiye, with support from prominent international institutions, and his work been featured on TRT and BBC.

"This study investigates the representation of female experiences within patriarchal societies, specifically examining themes of fear and societal control as depicted in selected short films: Gaze (2017) by Farnoosh Samadi, Lunch time (2017) by Alireza Ghasemi, Retouch (2017) by Kaveh Mazaheri, and Exam (2019) by Sonia K. Hadad. In various contexts throughout the Middle East, particularly in Iran, women face substantial restrictions on their rights and freedoms, dictated by stringent societal norms and familial expectations.

The primary aim of this research is to understand how these films reflect and critique the realities of patriarchal oppression while functioning as powerful mediums for emotional expression. Employing an intersectional theoretical framework, this study examines the interplay of gender, class, and cultural context in shaping women's experiences. Utilizing thematic analysis, the research explores how these films convey the emotional landscapes of their female protagonists, thereby elucidating the pervasive influence of patriarchal structures.

Each film offers unique insights into the psychological ramifications of navigating life in an authoritarian environment. Gaze underscores the insecurities faced by women engaged in night shift work, illustrating how a lack of safety engenders anxiety. In contrast, Lunch Time addresses the constraints on autonomy, revealing the internal conflicts that arise from societal expectations. Retouch explores issues of self-identity, highlighting the profound impact of social pressures on women's mental well-being. Finally, Exam depicts the dangers imposed by societal norms within educational settings, where stringent appearance regulations threaten safety and self-confidence, further compounded by paternal authority.

Through the analysis of these intricate portrayals, this study contributes to the broader discourse on gender dynamics, emotional engagement, and the role of short cinema in shaping affective communities, ultimately illuminating how these films amplify women's voices and experiences within oppressive contexts."

Author: Aynaz  Ghaderi Ghalehno, 

Institution: Université de Montréal

Biography: Aynaz Ghaderi Ghalehno recently completed her doctoral studies on the reception of Québécois short fiction films at Université de Montréal, focusing on the influence of social and cultural contexts. She has published articles on short film aesthetics and cinematic adaptation. Moving forward, she plans to pursue postdoctoral studies in digital feminism and social media, further exploring the intersections of gender and visual culture.

In the Portuguese cinematographic panorama, between 2000 and 2023, the theme of the House as an identity space, a builder of memories and a portrait of deep generational conflicts, runs through the documentary, animation and fiction short films by directors Cláudia Varejão, João Fazenda, Luís Campos, Eduardo Brito, Bruno Carnide and Francisca Miranda. The short documentary Defilement (Francisca Miranda, 2023), the short animated film Mesa (João Fazenda, 2020) and the short fiction films Fim de semana (Cláudia Varejão, 2007), Muletas (Luís Campos, 2017), Declive (Eduardo Brito, 2018) and Memórias de uma Casa Vazia (Bruno Carnide, 2023) present us with a universe of family encounters and disagreements in their emotional relationship with the symbolic and, at the same time, agglutinating space of the House. The house, the protagonist's setting, is part of the cinematographic universe of gestures and objects from a conflicting daily life in silence and memory. This study will analyse the narrative processes that reflect affections, conflicts and generational silences. The aesthetic choices of documentary, animation and fiction cinema continually intersect in the projection of conflicts, doubts and resentments in a family environment. The spaces of the house, the dark sides of memory and the invisible define the creative approaches of each of the directors.

Author: Anabela Oliveira

Institution: Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro/iA* Arts Research

Biography: PhD in Comparative Literature and conducts her scientific research in the field of inter-arts studies, particularly in the relationship between literature and cinema, literature and architecture and also in the cinematography of Manoel de Oliveira, Federico Fellini and Jacques Tati. Teaches several seminars on film discourse analysis She has presented papers at numerous conferences and published in national and international journals. Participation in juries and workshops at film festivals and film school exhibitions and on ICA national juries (2014-2025).

In this current atmosphere of past and present human migratory fluxes, exploring interactive documentary practices (Ryan & Staton, 2022) can aid in opening paths to dialogue. Before those possible conversations, as researchers and practitioners, we may seek to create reflecting intervals within interfaces and spaces on and off screens. Investigating expanded documentary practices and past Portuguese diasporic journeys also prompts an open space documentary attitude (Zimmermann & De Michiel, 2019). This intricate notion relates to a “battle against enclosure by embracing different ways to open up discourses, interfaces, and participation” (p. 12) in creating multiple-perspective and polyvocal spheres. With this notion in mind and to embrace with care different documentary practices, I emphasize the critical gesture of looking at the in-betweenness (Bellour, 2012; Pethő, 2023) and the on and off-screen (Fowler, 2008) intervals that may add layers of reflection, imagination or affection—fostering critical encounters individually and collectively. This paper aims to analyze the on- and off-screen (dis)connections in my practice-based research (Vear et al., 2022) artifacts: an interactive documentary and documentary installation titled Orange in the Pocket, Aerograms and the Rest of Memories (2024). The artifacts encompass the reconfiguration of fragmented memories (oral recollections and family archives) from descendants of once-migrant Portuguese families. Therefore, I propose closely reflecting on how imaginary and affective dimensions manifest, considering the intertwining of individual traces of displacement and belonging. In addition, I will contemplate their possible migratory echoes beyond the digital environment.

This paper seeks to encourage a thoughtful examination of the sensations, remembrances, and affections (Massumi, 2021) that may arise while navigating screens and listening (Rangan, 2022). It also aims to delve deeper into the intricacies of migratory memories and experiences within interactive and immersive nonfiction narratives.

Author: Ana Sofia de Almeida

Institution: NOVA University Lisbon | ICNOVA

Biography: Ana Sofia de Almeida holds a master’s degree in Audiovisual Communication, specializing in Documentary Film, and is a Ph.D. Candidate in NOVA, with ICNOVA and FCT scholarship. Currently, focusing on her practice-research on interactive documentaries and home movies regarding the dislocations of human migration and gestures of memory and remembering. Since 2012, Almeida has directed and edited short documentaries and video installations regarding urban art, performance, memory, and landscape. Ana has also given papers at international conferences, such as IFM, NECS, and Visible Evidence. She is interested in exploring expanded documentary practices, often searching for the performative facets of archival gestures.

The border(line) disorder is an art-research project developed in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of a Creative Europe grant. The project explores the ongoing fragmentation of Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 1995 Dayton Agreement, focusing on both the physical and emotional dimensions of this division. Central to the work is the Inter-Entity Boundary Line (IEBL), which not only cuts through geographical space but also remains embedded in collective memory—often symbolizing war trauma and loss. As such, it continues to shape ""affective communities"" rooted in the legacy of conflict.

As part of the project, I researched archival materials, conducted a series of interviews with residents on both sides of the IEBL and with a camera in my hand I documented the current state of a section of this boundary that crosses Sarajevo. The final result is a video installation comprising seven standalone pieces that together weave a narrative examining the challenges and possible futures of post-conflict spaces. 

My goal is to highlight the impact of political, social, and economic shifts in post-conflict Bosnia—among all: the power of foreign capital that has expropriated both land and identity from local communities, and the ongoing symbolic warfare carried out by local political parties in the post-Dayton era. I explored these themes by focusing on symbolically charged sites along the boundary line in Sarajevo that hold deep ideological, historical, and social significance—such as Vraca Park, the Osmice Hotel, the guesthouse at Zlatište, the 1984 Winter Olympics bobsleigh track, Lukavica, and others.

Using the theoretical lens of place-as-assemblage, I interpret these locations as multilayered spaces shaped by overlapping histories, ideologies, and social practices. Therefore, in the montage, I employ paired videos of the same location—two simultaneous images that engage with and reflect upon each other, constructing a multi-layered narrative. Several videos juxtapose contemporary footage with archival images of the place, initiating a visual dialogue between the past and present symbolic significance of these places. Moreover, local voices are central to the project, offering personal insights that reveal how spatial division continues to carry deep social, symbolic, and economic impacts. Places once meant to connect people have instead become zones of exclusion—where hate speech flourishes, they serve as arenas for unchecked forces, from foreign investment to ethno-nationalist political influence. Ultimately, the IEBL - space ""in-between"" —mirrors the complex post-war reality of Bosnia and the broader region, embodying the unresolved tensions between memory, identity, and change.

Author: Joanna Zielinska-Oktem

Institution: Contact Zone (NGO)

Biography: I hold a PhD in Performance Studies from the Jagiellonian University, with academic backgrounds in philosophy and theatre. My research spans international programs in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the UK. I’ve collaborated with SARTR and the MESS Festival in Sarajevo. My work bridges theory and practice, focusing on experimental artistic media to challenge traditional academic discourse.