SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARCHIVE: Film and Psychoanalysis in Focus

SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARCHIVE IS A SERIES OF EVENING SALONS THAT EXPLORE THE LINKS BETWEEN CINEMA AND PSYCHOANALYSIS. THE SCREENING SERIES HAS BEEN ORGANISED TO CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOANALYSIS 1920-2019.

Reading List:

Almodóvar, P. Yanof, J.A. (2005). Perversion in La mala educación [Bad education] (2004). Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 86(6):1715-1724.

Almodovar, P. Lichtenstein, D. (2005). Hable con ella [Talk to her]. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 86(3):905-914.

Harrang, C. (2012). Psychic Skin and Narcissistic Rage: Reflections on Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 93(5):1301-1308.

Lemma, A. (2012). A Perfectly Modern Frankenstein: Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In (2011, Sony Pictures Classics). Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 93(5):1291-1300.

Meiri, S. Kohen-Raz, O. (2017). Mainstream Body-Character Breach Films and Subjectivization. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 98(1):201-217.

Sabbadini, A. (2012). Introduction: Three Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In (2011). Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 93(5):1291.

ALL ABOUT….ALMODOVAR

Chair: Belén Vidal

Speakers: Jorge Ulnik, José Arroyo.

For over thirty years, the cinema of Pedro Almodóvar has attracted international acclaim. His rich body of work grapples with deeply emotional and psychological experience, bringing to the screen many poignant and complex aspects of human nature. Exploring the nature of desire in romantic and sexual relationships, as well as the most complex dimensions of family life, Almodóvar’s films offer profoundly moving representations of human foibles and consciousness whilst also fostering a witty sense of the absurd. This salon discussion will examine the appeal of Almodóvar’s work, exploring the opportunities it presents for identification. It also aims to understand how the films lay down challenges to cultural and social inhibition, enriching the scene of cinema as political commentary while holding on to the importance personal feeling and fantasy. We are delighted to have in conversation José Arroyo (Warwick University) and Jorge Ulnik (Argentine Psychoanalytical Association) and to welcome Belén Vidal (King’s College London) as Chair.

TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED HERE

Please find below an open access list of selected papers about psychoanalysis and film.

Meet the Chair & Speakers

Belén Vidal

Belén Vidal is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London. She lectures and writes on the historical film genres and on Spanish cinema. She is the author of Heritage Film (2012) and Figuring the Past. Period Film and the Mannerist Aesthetic (2012), and the co-editor of The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture (2014). She has published on contemporary Spanish cinema topics including film auteurs (Isabel Coixet, Isaki Lacuesta, José Luis Guerin); history and memory on fiction film; post-2010 crisis cinema; and digital cinema practices. This work has appeared in the collections Contemporary Spanish Cinema and Genre (2008), Cinema at the Periphery (also co-editor) (2010) and Middlebrow Cinema (2016), and in journals such as Screen, Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies and New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film.

Jorge Ulnik

Jorge Ulnik is a Full member of the International Psychoanalytical Association and training and supervising analyst at Argentine Psychoanalytical Association. He is Professor of Pathophysiology and Psychosomatic Diseases Department in the School of Psychology School and Professor of Psychiatry and Mental Health in the School of Medicine – both at Buenos Aires University. Between 2004-11, Jorge lectured on the ‘Cinema and Psychoanalysis’ programme in Murcia, Spain. His books include El psiconálisis y la piel (ed. Sintesis, Madrid, 2004), which is published in English as Skin in psychoanalysis (Karnac Books, 2007). This work is also available in Italian (Ubaldini-Astrolabio, 2011), and Russian (Cogito Centre, 2017).

José Arroyo

José Arroyo is a former Associate Editor of Cinema Canada and co-founder of the Montreal Mirror. He is the editor of Action/Spectacle a Sight and Sound Reader. He’s written extensively on Spanish Cinema over the years, and has interviewed Pedro Almodóvar periodically since 1987. He is Principal Teaching Fellow in Film Studies at the University of Warwick.