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The Centrality of Self in Response to Humanitarianism: An Ethnographic Approach to the Global Peace Film Festival

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Date Issued:
2015
Summary:
This dissertation examines how the Global Peace Film Festival of Orlando, Florida, facilitates the construction of cosmopolitan identities within the context of humanitarianism and activism. An expansion of the notion of "peace"to include multiple levels of meaning is crucial to the identity of the festival, as it allows the screening of an array of films that appeal to the broad range of spectators and community organizations that interact with the event. Within the context of the Global Peace Film Festival, various discourses surrounding peace participate in the process of cognitively mapping the world and situating the self within it as a cosmopolitan citizen. The centrality of the self is key to understanding how audiences create solidarity with the other, and how they might choose to respond to appeals for humanitarian aid. The contemporary humanitarian imaginary builds solidarity between the viewer and the other-in-need in a manner that is rooted in self-reflection, creating an ironic spectator of vulnerable others and setting the stage for solutions to humanitarian problems that fit into personal lifestyle choices. This study examines the complexity inherent to the articulation between producers, audiences and films, and how meaning is negotiated on a local level. Witnessing and testimonial are key practices for engaging spectators, and the testimonial encounter has a transformative power for audiences that may be channeled into various responses to calls for action. An emerging practice is significant as well, a new situatedness of the documentary filmmaker as a central figure in the promotion of both films and humanitarian causes. This practice provides a role for the filmmaker as both entrepreneur and activist, easing the tension between the goals of humanitarianism and capitalistic concerns, while positioning the film as a tool rather than an aesthetic object and echoing the preeminence of self in our contemporary society. The Global Peace Film festival takes an innovative approach to promoting change, moving from a traditional exhibition model to an "engagement" model that focuses on the involvement of the local community.
Title: The Centrality of Self in Response to Humanitarianism: An Ethnographic Approach to the Global Peace Film Festival.
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Name(s): Wahlberg, Katherine E., author
Charbonneau, Stephen, Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department of Languages, Lingustics and Comparative Literature
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2015
Date Issued: 2015
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 288 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: This dissertation examines how the Global Peace Film Festival of Orlando, Florida, facilitates the construction of cosmopolitan identities within the context of humanitarianism and activism. An expansion of the notion of "peace"to include multiple levels of meaning is crucial to the identity of the festival, as it allows the screening of an array of films that appeal to the broad range of spectators and community organizations that interact with the event. Within the context of the Global Peace Film Festival, various discourses surrounding peace participate in the process of cognitively mapping the world and situating the self within it as a cosmopolitan citizen. The centrality of the self is key to understanding how audiences create solidarity with the other, and how they might choose to respond to appeals for humanitarian aid. The contemporary humanitarian imaginary builds solidarity between the viewer and the other-in-need in a manner that is rooted in self-reflection, creating an ironic spectator of vulnerable others and setting the stage for solutions to humanitarian problems that fit into personal lifestyle choices. This study examines the complexity inherent to the articulation between producers, audiences and films, and how meaning is negotiated on a local level. Witnessing and testimonial are key practices for engaging spectators, and the testimonial encounter has a transformative power for audiences that may be channeled into various responses to calls for action. An emerging practice is significant as well, a new situatedness of the documentary filmmaker as a central figure in the promotion of both films and humanitarian causes. This practice provides a role for the filmmaker as both entrepreneur and activist, easing the tension between the goals of humanitarianism and capitalistic concerns, while positioning the film as a tool rather than an aesthetic object and echoing the preeminence of self in our contemporary society. The Global Peace Film festival takes an innovative approach to promoting change, moving from a traditional exhibition model to an "engagement" model that focuses on the involvement of the local community.
Identifier: FA00004555 (IID)
Degree granted: Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Film festivals -- Political aspects
Film festivals -- Social aspects
Globalization -- Social aspects
Human rights film festivals
Humanitarianism
Mass media -- Social aspects
Social problems in mass media
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Links: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004555
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004555
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.