CALL FOR PAPERS

2026-03-22

In recent years, a series of studies have emerged on the reception and constitution of cinema audiences, in addition to extensive research on cinema exhibition experiences in Latin America and other regions of the Global South. In this sense, studies focus on the circulation, consumption and forms of presentation of films in collective spaces, examining these environments as places of social and cultural exchange.

 

Thus, oriented toward the investigation of cinema culture, this approach operates alongside similar perspectives that are very active in Europe and the US, such as New Cinema History (Biltereyst; Maltby; Meers, 2019; Ferraz, 2017). In Latin America, it is now commonly known in Spanish as “estudios de públicos” and “cultura de las pantallas” (Kriger, 2018a; Kriger, 2018b; Kriger; Poppe, 2023; Meers; Biltereyst; Lozano, 2018; Nieto Malpica; Tello; Rosas; Biltereyst, 2016; Rosas Mantecón, 2017; Rosas Mantecón; González, 2020; Rosas Mantecón; Peirano; Pires, 2025) and, in Portuguese, “histórias de cinemas” (Ferraz, 2024; Ferraz; Ebert, 2026, in press; Freire; Ferraz, 2018; Freire, Gama; Quintes, 2026; Gama, 2024; Gama; Coelho, 2024; Vieira, 2021), having also established itself over time as a historiographical novelty in relation to traditional studies of cinema history, whose central object mainly focused on film production, the analysis of their meanings and senses, as well as the performance of stars and directors. However, despite this turning point in the field, most studies conducted in this way still focus on contexts and cases in large urban centres and capital cities.

 

In light of this, the aim of the dossier “Exhibition practices and cinema audiences in non-metropolitan contexts: Latin America and Global South” is to compile a series of papers on cinema culture in small towns and villages (of varying sizes) in countries in the Global South. The focus will be on the historical and contemporary contexts of cinema reception, exhibition and distribution practices.

 

How can audiences in cinemas located in urban areas far from large cities and metropolises be characterised? What were and are the ways of marketing films in these places and their influence on the programming of local cinemas? What were and are the various business models and characteristics of the exhibition market in non-metropolitan cities? What were the usual practices of audiences in rural areas? What were the film programmes like in religious spaces, cultural associations or spaces that competed with cinemas in these locations? What were the impacts of the systematic closure of cinema theatres on the socio-cultural structure of small towns?

 

In short, we invite researchers to submit papers based both on memories of cinema culture developed in local contexts and on archival research on the experiences of cinema audiences outside major cities, conceived here in the plural as social and historical groups that identify with a discourse and practices of sociability and film enjoyment.

 

We also suggest the presentation of studies that delve deeper into the topic of the cinema exhibition and distribution business, especially historical investigations into the existence, permanence or disappearance of spaces dedicated to collective access to films, considering models that depended/depend on entrepreneurs based in major urban centres or initiatives by independent local exhibitors.

 

Thematic areas

We invite submissions of papers in Portuguese, English, and Spanish that engage with the following thematic areas (and other related topics):

  • Cinema memories, oral histories and other sources related to cinema cultures in small towns, interior cities, rural areas, villages and hamlets.
  • Film posters and other marketing, promotion and consumption tools in non-metropolitan cinemas.
  • Models, uses and circulation of different exhibition technologies (from seminal exhibition scenarios to contemporary contexts) in small towns.
  • Relationships between exhibition/distribution circuits and transport infrastructure and urban circulation in small towns and countryside regions.
  • Comparative studies between different film circuits in small towns.
  • Historical and socio-geographical mapping of cinemas located in small towns.
  • Local cinemas and their relationship with political aspects in small towns.
  • The role of entrepreneurs, workers and enthusiasts in film exhibition and distribution in non-metropolitan contexts.
  • Proposals and tensions in terminology related to the cinema cultures of non-metropolitan cities, considering the socio-cultural, territorial and geographical particularities of their locations. Examples include 'rural cinemas', 'interior cinemas' and cinemas in regions with low social and economic development.
  • Case studies related to the dossier:
    • Commercial cinemas, their historical development and practices;
    • Parish cinemas and the relationship between film screening and churches;
    • Community cinemas;
    • Film clubs;
    • Experiences and projects involving film screening in rural areas, in contrast to small urbanised towns;
    • Travelling exhibitors and circulation in smaller towns;
    • Film distribution and commercialization routes and their relationship with forms of transportation and mobility.

 

References

BILTEREYST, D. MALTBY, R. e MEERS, P. (Eds.). Routledge Companion to New Cinema History. London: Routledge, 2019.

 

FERRAZ, T.; EBERT, S. La investigación sobre el público y la exhibición cinematográfica en Brasil: trayectorias históricas y perspectivas del marco de las “histórias de cinemas”. Revista Alteridades: Antropología e historia. Cidade do México: UAM Iztapalapa/División de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades/Departamento de Antropología, 2026 (en prensa).

 

FERRAZ, T. Reapertura de salas de cine, memoria del cinema-going y gestión del patrimonio cultural: una comparación entre Brasil e Bélgica. Global Media Journal México, v. 14, n. 26, p. 24-43, 2017. Disponível em: http://journals.tdl.org/gmjei/index.php/GMJ_EI/a rticle/view/255 . Acesso em: 9 mar. 2026.

 

FERRAZ, T. Narrativas tecnostálgicas: memórias e legitimações cinematográficas em filmes sobre cinemas. 33° Encontro Anual da Compós, 2024, Niterói. Anais..., Galoá, 2024. Disponível em: https://proceedings.science/compos/compos-2024/trabalhos/narrativas-tecnostalgicas-memorias-e-legitimacoes-cinematograficas-em-filmes-sob?lang=pt-br .  Acesso em: 9 mar. 2026.

 

FREIRE, R. de L.; FERRAZ, T. Apresentação do Dossiê Estudos de exibição e públicos cinematográficos: histórias, memórias e práticas. C. Legenda, n. 36, 2018. Disponível em: https://periodicos.uff.br/ciberlegenda/article/view/40110 . Acesso em: 8 mar. 2026.

 

FREIRE, R. de L.; GAMA, F.; QUINTES, T. A survey of the history of non-theatrical 16mm film exhibition in Brazil until the 1960s. In: WALLER, G. A.; HAIDEE, W. A century in 16mm: the remaking of cinema. New York: Oxford University Press, 2026, pp. 286-313.

 

GAMA, F. B. Entre a capital e o interior: a circulação de filmes na Bahia até a década de 1920. 2024a. 391 f. Tese (Doutorado em Cinema e Audiovisual) – Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, 2024.

 

GAMA, F. B.; COELHO, R. F. O mercado de salas de cinema na Bahia: um olhar para o interior. In: GUSMÃO, M. et al. Memórias e histórias do cinema na Bahia – V. 2. Salvador: EDUFBA, 2024, pp. 303-333.

 

KRIGER, C. (org.). Imágenes y públicos del cine argentino clásico. Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, 2018a.

 

KRIGER, C. Creación de fuentes y estudio de públicos de cine en la ciudad de Buenos Aires. In. RODRÍGUEZ RIVA, L.; ZYLBERMAN, D. (orgs.) Intensidades políticas en el cine y los estudios audiovisuales latinoamericanos: identidades, dispositivos, territorios. Buenos Aires: ASAECA Asociación Argentina de Estudios de Cine y Audiovisual, 2018b, pp. 22-31.

 

KRIGER, C.; POPPE, N. (eds.). Salas, negocios y públicos de cine em Latinoamérica (1896-1960). Buenos Aires: Prometeo Libros, 2023.

 

MEERS, P.; BILTEREYST, D.; LOZANO, J. C. The Cultura de la Pantalla network: writing new cinema histories across Latin America and Europe. Revista Internacional de Comunicación y Desarrollo, v. 9, pp. 161-168, 2018.

 

NIETO MALPICA, J., TELLO, A., ROSAS, M. E.; BILTEREYST, D. El cine en Tampico y Ciudad Madero: exhibición, programación y contexto histórico-social en 1942. Global Media Journal México, v. 13, n. 25, p.159-170, 2016. Disponível em: https://gmjmexico.uanl.mx/index.php/GMJ_EI/article/view/266 . Acesso em: 8 mar. 2026.

 

ROSAS MANTECÓN, A. Ir al cine. Antropología de los públicos, la ciudad y las pantallas. Ciudad de México: Gedisa Editorial/Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 2017.

 

ROSAS MANTECÓN, A.; GONZÁLEZ, L. (eds.). Cines latinoamericanos em circulación. En busca del público perdido. Cidade do México: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 2020.

 

ROSAS MANTECÓN, A; PEIRANO, M. P.; PIRES, B. S. Olhares para os públicos de cinema na América Latina: apresentação do dossiê. Rebeca: Revista Brasileira de Estudos de Cinema e Audiovisual, São Paulo, v. 14, n. 1, e1290, p.1-14, jan./jun. 2025, Disponível em: https://www.google.com/search?q=https://doi.org/10.22475/rebeca.v14n1.1290. Acesso em: 8 mar. 2026.

 

VIEIRA, J. L. Prefácio. In: BRUM, A.; BRANDÃO, R. (orgs.). Histórias de cinemas de rua de Minas Gerais. Juiz de Fora: Editora UFJF, 2021, p. 6-10.