In collaboration with AMIA, the SCMS Nontheatrical Film and Media SIG is delighted to announce its third Nontheatrical Student Essay Award.
Designed to recognize outstanding graduate student scholarship founded upon archival nontheatrical research, this award underscores both organizations’ commitment to mentorship and professional development, connecting award-recipients with mentors to guide them through the process of crafting journal-ready manuscripts. The award-winning essay will also be published (subject to revisions) in The Moving Image.
The inaugural award went to Poorvi Gaur (Queen Mary University of London) for her paper, ‘Rethinking agency in the first national family planning campaign: Politics and patterns of feminist agency in the works of Films Division of India (1948–75).’
Our second award went to Runjie Wang (University of Washington) for his paper, ‘Filming as Knowing: Producing Archive and Ethnicities in the “Chinese Ethnographic Film Series” (1957-1978)’ Keep your eyes peeled for its publication in The Moving Image!
Eligibility
Applicants must be enrolled in a recognized graduate program at the time of entry.
- The winning scholarly essay will demonstrate original and critical analysis, clarity of argument and exposition, and engagement with varied source materials related to the study of nontheatrical media (e.g. science film, educational film, home movies, government films, etc.)
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Students may submit their own paper, or they may be nominated by an advisor or professor with the author’s consent. In either case, the submitter should provide a short author’s CV.
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Papers shall be submitted in English and may not have been published in part or in whole by the time of submission. The manuscript should be 4000-6000 words in length (double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt, with 1-inch margins, using the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition), including footnotes/endnotes but excluding bibliography.
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Before the first-place essay is published in The Moving Image, its author will work with a faculty mentor and The Moving Image editors to revise the essay for publication, in keeping with the developmental editing procedures of the journal.
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Submissions will be evaluated by the governing body of the Nontheatrical Film and Media SIG and editors from The Moving Image.
Submissions will be due February 25, 2025 and can be sent to nontheatricalessayaward@gmail.com. The author of the winning paper will be contacted in early March 2025, and announced at the 2025 SCMS Annual Conference.
Point of contact for questions about the award and the submission process: Sophia Gräfe, Co-Chair of the SCMS Nontheatrical Film and Media SIG: sophia.graefe@hu-berlin.de
Download the Call for Submissions here.
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The Moving Image is the journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). It explores topics relevant to both the media archivist and the media scholar. The Moving Image deals with crucial issues surrounding the preservation, archiving, and restoration of film, video, and digital moving images. It features detailed profiles of moving image collections; interpretive and historical essays about archival materials; articles on archival description, appraisal, and access; behind-the-scenes looks at the techniques used to preserve, restore, and digitize moving images; and theoretical articles on the future of the field. More here.
The Nontheatrical Film & Media Scholarly Interest Group (SIG) of the Society of Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) provides a setting for scholars working in this area to collaborate, share research tips, and debate methodological issues. Moreover, this SIG acts as another connection between the academic and archival worlds, and between other SIGs and committees within SCMS, such as the Media Archives Committee. The mission of the Nontheatrical Film & Media Scholarly Interest Group is to facilitate discussion, consolidation, outreach, and inclusion. More here.
