Campus & Community

SU, Syracuse International Film Festival team up for ‘Forum on Music and Sound in Film’ Oct. 13-17

Friday, September 18, 2009, By Rob Enslin

An international array of film scholars, composers and sound designers is converging on Syracuse for the “Forum on Music and Sound in Film,” to be held Oct. 13-17.

All events, unless otherwise indicated, are free and open to the public, and are held on the second floor of the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center, 801 University Ave. For more information and a complete schedule, call (315) 443-7192, or visit http://finearts.syr.edu/news_updates.html.

The forum is co-organized by Syracuse University and the Syracuse International Film Festival (SIFF). It is part of The Andrew W. Mellon Central New York Humanities Corridor. The keynote address by renowned film scholar Richard Dyer is part of Syracuse Symposium. Both Syracuse Symposium and the Mellon CNY Humanities Corridor are organized and presented by the SU Humanities Center.

“This is an international event, in every respect of the word,” says Gregg Lambert, Dean’s Professor of the Humanities and founding director of the SU Humanities Center and principal investigator of the Mellon CNY Humanities Corridor. “Each panelist is a leader in his or her respective field and is indicative of SU’s commitment to excellence in the arts and humanities. Anyone interested in music or film or both is sure to benefit from the experience.”

The “Forum on Music and Sound in Film” is co-organized by Stephen Meyer and Theo Cateforis, associate and assistant professors, respectively, in the Department of Art and Music Histories (formerly Fine Arts) in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences. “From Richard Dyer to Italian sound designer Mirco Mencacci, we’ve assembled more than a dozen world-class panelists,” says Cateforis. Both professors also worked with Owen Shapiro, SIFF artistic director and the Shaffer Professor of Film in SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“This is truly an interdisciplinary collaboration,” adds Meyer. “Owen’s involvement not only gives the project added credence, but also helps project it onto the world stage.”

Highlights of the symposium include a screening of Cristiano Bortone’s 2006 drama “Red Like the Sky,” the story of how Mencacci lost his sight; Fritz Lang’s 1927 science-fiction silent classic “Metropolis,” with a new score by Latin American composer Martin Matalon; a keynote address by Dyer, of King’s College London, titled “Darken Our Lightness: The Italian Horror Film”; and panel discussions on topics ranging from the musical styles of Robert Altman and Franz Waxman to “film noir” love songs to opera simulcasts. The last two days of the forum conclude with off-site screenings and discussions of two films by Mencacci.

More information about Syracuse Symposium and the Mellon CNY Humanities Corridor–an interdisciplinary partnership involving SU, Cornell University and the University of Rochester–is available at http://www.syracusehumanities.org/#/files/2412/4958/5954/5372073566.jpg.
Six-year-old SIFF is devoted to celebrating international independent film and video. Coinciding with the forum is SIFF’s International Film and Digital Expo for SU students, faculty and staff at the Renaissance Syracuse Hotel, 701 E. Genesee St.