Fact or Fiction: The Portrayal of Warnings in Film and Documentaries

Time

1:00 pm–3:00 pm (UK time)

About

This webinar brings together academics from across the globe to discuss the different portrayals of warnings and disasters in films, both documentary and fictional. This webinar will provide the opportunity to learn more about representations of warning systems in disaster films, how effective documentaries are in engaging the public and raising awareness, and how film itself can act as an important element of warning systems. 

Webinar Program

• Introduction by Dr Carina Fearnley – Director of the UCL Warning Research Centre Introduction.
• Presentation by Dr Alexa Weik von Mossner Filming at the Eleventh Hour: Environmental Documentaries as Warnings
• Summary: The past two decades have seen an explosion of documentary films dealing with a wide range of pressing environmental issues, including pollution, resource extraction, food production, species extinction, and climate change, among others. Many of these films utter stark warnings about an unsustainable or even catastrophic future ahead of us if things don’t change. The talk will consider some of these warnings and discuss how they are structured and framed, what filmic and rhetorical means are used to make them persuasive, and whether such warnings in film are useful if the goal is to get people to act on these issues. 
• Presentation by Prof Deborah Dixon.
• Presentation by Prof John Carr: Discussion on the various representations of warning technologies in recent films, both accurate and inaccurate
• Presentation by Maddie Guthrie on how film can assist in prompting imagination amongst the public regarding disasters, and how film can be integrated into early warning systems.
• Q&A led by Maddie Guthrie, with Dr Alexa Weik von Mossner, Prof John Carr and Prof Deborah Dixon as members of the panel.