Film Genres through Social Criticism series
Neja Rakušček: (Not) Accepting Change. The intersection of body and ecological horror
On Thursday, 11 July 2024, at 18:00, we invite you to the garden of the old sanatorium at Tyrševa 19, for a lecture by Neja Rakušček on body and ecological horror. The lecture is part of the triennial EKO 9: Eyes in the Stone and is organised in collaboration with the Pekarna Magdalenske mreže and Film Factory, which is running the Film Genres through Social Criticism series for the second year in a row, as a continuation of the History of Film series (2021) and the Theory of Film series (2022). After the lecture, Dr Maja Pan will be in conversation with the guest.
What do we feel when the horror genre confronts us with the primal fear of our own transformation and the ecological consequences we face? Body horror represents an opportunity to explore the audience’s enduring fascination with human fears, vulnerability and the fragility of the human form. They show bodies that act in complete opposition to what we consider to be the normal anatomy and functioning of biological species. Ecological horror films, on the other hand, are closely linked to the consequences of the various environmental problems caused by humanity. What do they have in common? Both body horror and ecological horror delve into the theme of change, whether in the form of grotesque transformation of bodies or on a larger scale in altered ecosystems. This lecture will delve into the intersection of these genres and explore their characteristics and the possibilities of fusion. We will focus on Alex Garland’s Annihilation (2018).
The lecture will be held in Slovenian language.
Neja Rakušček is a sociologist of culture who occasionally writes for Kino! and for the online platform Koridor – Crossroads of Art. She graduated from Dr Polona Petek’s thesis “Stops in road films”, where she focused on exploring the notions of the liminal and the non-liminal in relation to the genre of road films. She is currently working in the field of film distribution and education. She also occasionally finds herself behind the camera as a director of short films.
List of recommended reading:
Cruz, Ronald Allan. 2012: »Mutations and Metamorphoses: Body Horror is Biological Horror«. Journal of Popular Film and Television, let. 40, št. 4, str. 160–168.
Kjærulff, Caroline. 2021: »The Ambiguous Portrayal of Nature in Annihilation«. Leviathan: Interdisciplinary Journal in English, št.7, str. 127–138.
Tabas, Brad. 2015: »Dark Places: Ecology, Place, and the Metaphysics of Horror Fiction«. Miranda: Multidisciplinary Peer-Reviewed Journal on the English-Speaking World, št. 11.
List of films:
– Long Weekend, 1978, Colin Eggleston
– The Fly, 1986, David Cronenberg
– The Thing, 1982, John Carpenter
– Annihilation, 2018, Alex Garland
In this year’s lecture series, the organisers turn their attention towards a socially critical reflection on the links between film genres and social phenomena. Once again, renowned Slovenian film critics and theoreticians guide the programme, presenting both the literature on film and recommending interesting genre films. The series consists of 10 thematically rounded lectures, which take place from March to July and from September to November 2024 at OBRAT – a space for art and participation at Trg revolucije 9. The project is co-organised by the Pekarna Magdalenske mreže and Film Factory, and funded by the Slovenian Film Centre and the Municipality of Maribor.
