THE FILM-PHIL LISBON SEMINARS: DAVID FERRAGUT

David Ferragut

The next Film-Phil Lisbon Seminar (2023-2024) will be led by David Ferragut ((Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain) who will talk about “Matter and Mind. On philosophy in Early Cinema”. The session will be held on February 14, 2024, at 15:00 PM (Lisbon time) Room CAN SE1 and Online.

ABSTRACT

Henri Bergson (1907) and Hugo Münsterberg (1916) were the first two philosophers who took an interest in cinema, yet they wrote about it in very different contexts. Bergson, dedicating a single chapter during the Early Cinema era, explored it before the classical style had crystallized. In contrast, Münsterberg, who wrote an entire book on it, did so when Classical Cinema had already taken shape. Furthermore, they ascribed different dimensions to cinema: Bergson viewed it through a scientific lens, dissecting movement into fixed points, while Münsterberg celebrated it as a new artistic form capable of replicating mental processes. This session will unfold along three axes: first, we will describe the fundamental differences between Early and Classical Cinema in order to discern the images analyzed by Bergson and Münsterberg; second, we will delve into their primary arguments to delineate their cinematic conceptions within their philosophical frameworks. Finally, drawing on interpretations by both Deleuze and Carroll, we will explore enduring philosophical questions about cinema that still persist into the present day.

BIO

David Ferragut holds a BA degree in Humanities with a mention in Philosophy (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and is a PhD candidate in Art History (UAB) with a thesis on slow cinema, rendered from Film Theory and the Philosophy of Gilles Deleuze. He has conducted seminars on electronic and digital media (video games, photography, noise and drone music), History of Cinema, and Film Theory (UAB and Universitat de Girona). He has coordinated two books: 'Ensayos y errores. Arte, ciencia y filosofía en los videojuegos' (AnaitGames, 2019), with Alfonso-García Lapeña, and 'Lo que dura una película. Una antología sobre slow cinema' (Laertes, 2023), with Iona Sharp-Casas.

Note that the seminar is hybrid, but pre-registration is mandatory. Please, register in advance:https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkdeGspjwoHtfOdC_qDNyD_fLg7BCGEqyW. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Funded by the European Union (ERC, FILM AND DEATH, 101088956). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.