The filmic order and Animal Studies

by Ilda Teresa Castro

In the recognition of inter and intra-species relations of animals, the filmic serves as a tool for analysis and reflection, influence and intervention. Since the beginning of the Filmic History many works have represented and documented human and non-human animal interactions. In the last two decades, the growing production of documentaries with a focus on the non-human condition and natural world, the emergence of the ecodocumentary and ecocinema, reflects the ecological crisis that we experience in the Anthropocene. Simultaneously, dozens of digital videos available online register the behaviour of non-human animals in inter and intra-species interactions, revealing unsuspected realities, challenging perceptions and established beliefs.This communication approaches the representation and documentation on non-human animals mediated by filmic technologies throughout the Filmic History, and some of the consequences that it has on ethical involvement, animal law and paradigm shift.


Biography:
Ilda Teresa de Castro is a post doctoral researcher with the project "Paisagem e Mudança - Movimentos” (“Landscape and Change - Movements"). She obtained her PhD degree in Communication Sciences/Cinema and Television at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, with the thesis "Eu Animal - a ordem do fílmico na consciencialização ecocritica e na mudança de paradigma” (“I, Animal - the filmic order in ecocritical awareness and the paradigm shift"). Her thesis deals with the part films play, in the construction of an ecocritical conscience. She is an integrated member of the Instituto de Filosofia da Linguagem da Universidade Nova (IFILNOVA), and member of the Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Linguagem (CECL).

castro.ilda@gmail.com