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The ZFICTION.26 feature film conference will take place on 18 and 19 March 2026 on Stage A in the Gessnerallee at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) in Zurich<\/span><\/cite><\/small><\/big><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Building the Mundane – The Ordinary Glamour of Production Design in Film<\/b><\/big><\/small><\/p>\n \u201eTime moves on while space simply loiters<\/i>.\u201c The fourth Zurich\u2019s Feature Film Conference ZFICTION.26<\/strong> is about the UNspectacular in production design \u2013 everyday life as cinematic terrain. Ordinary environments, the inconspicuous living spaces, mundane street corners, generic offices and transitional zones created by production design are the homeland of narrative reality in film. These seemingly unbuilt spaces work as terra cognita<\/i> for viewers \u2013 immediately recognizable and psychologically inhabitable \u2013 yet despite their social and political relevance, they remain terra incognita<\/i> in film studies.<\/p>\n The conference examines the creative challenge of understanding and building the ordinary: How do production designers manage to transform the prosaic into a credible film environment while keeping the essence of it\u2019s everyday nature?<\/p>\n Ordinary spaces of cinematic narration \u2013 like kitchens, living rooms, offices, attics, bathrooms \u2013 are examined and discussed. How do these archetypal domestic and institutional environments function as built sites for dramatic action, psychological revelation, narrative development, and the creation of authenticity? Taking into account their architectural grammar, cultural, political semiotics, and narrative use, ZFICTION.26<\/strong> attempts to establish practical and film-scientific foundations for these everyday spaces.<\/p>\n The aim of the conference is of cartographic nature: to explore a terrain that has been neglected by theory so far. The conference positions production design of the ordinary not as a secondary craft of mere backdrops but as active agents in fictional storytelling and guarantee of authenticity.<\/p>\n In case studies and an interdisciplinary dialog between production design, architectural theory, cultural geography, film studies and phenomenology, ZFICTION.26<\/strong> explores this largely uncharted territory \u2013 and establishes the built ordinary as a legitimate and essential field of practice and research in film, rendering it some well earned glory.<\/p>\n The detailed conference program and invited guests will be communicated starting mid January 2026.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n FILMMAKERS:<\/strong><\/p>\n Jaqueline Abrahams<\/a> (The Lobster, Lady Macbeth, His House, Wallander, among others), Jason Kisvarday<\/a> (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Palm Springs, Swiss Army Man, The Legend of Ochi), Kelsi Ephraim<\/a> (Everything Everywhere All at Once, MaXXXine, To Catch a Killer, Swiss Army Man, among others), Beatrice Schultz<\/a> (Western, Late Shift, Rivale, Someday we’ll tell each other everything, among others), Reinhild Blaschke<\/a> (Gavagal, Ich war zu Hause, aber\u2026, In the shadows, Gold, among others), Silke Fischer<\/a> (including Toni Erdmann, Lore, 3 Tage in Quiberon, Unorthodox)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n RESEARCHERS:<\/strong><\/p>\n Francis Pheasant-Kelly<\/a> (University of Wolverhampton, UK, Film Studies), Lucy Fife Donaldson<\/a> (University of St. Andrews, UK, Film Studies), Jane Barnwell<\/a> (University of Westminster, UK, Research and Education), Volker Pantenburg<\/a> (University of Zurich, Film Studies), Fabienne Liptay<\/a> (University of Zurich, Film Studies), Ute Holl<\/a> (University of Basel, Media Studies), Gina Dellagiacoma<\/a> (University of Zurich, Social Anthropology and Empirical Cultural Studies), Birgit Glombitza<\/a> (freelance lecturer, author, dramaturge)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS:<\/strong><\/p>\n Thomas Kissling<\/a> (architect\/landscape architect, VOGT office), Reynold Reynolds<\/a> (visual artist)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The ZFICTION.26 feature film conference will take place on 18 and 19 March 2026 on Stage A in the Gessnerallee at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) in Zurich Building the Mundane – The Ordinary Glamour of Production Design in Film \u201eTime moves on while space simply loiters.\u201c Doreen Massey, geographer and social scientist …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6954,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6954"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7199,"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions\/7199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.zhdk.ch\/zfictionenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDoreen Massey, geographer and social scientist<\/p>\n
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