Newsletter · Vol 28.2 · July 2021

Dear readers,

Welcome to the second online edition of the quarterly NAFA Network – the Nordic Anthropological Film Association's newsletter. We hope that some of you can enjoy the summer (in the Northern hemisphere) even though floods, heatwaves, and, once again, rising COVID-19 infections are giving us a foretaste of what our world might look like in the decades to come. A world where we, as a species, manage to continuously wreak havoc to the very place that gives us life. A future that, for some communities, already constitutes itself as the present and whose many warning signs have been ignored by people not yet affected until now. 

In this issue, we would like to announce two 2–3-year postdoctoral researcher positions at the Department of Anthropology and the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University. The two postdocs will be part of the core research team in the project Heart Openings: The Experience and Cultivation of Love in Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, headed by Associate Professor Christian Suhr.

We would also like to draw your attention to the Ava 2021 Best Visual Ethnographic Material Award that invites anthropological works addressing issues surrounding ageing and the life course, and Arnd Schneider's new book Expanded Visions: A New Anthropology of the Moving Image that brings together a range of essays on time-based media in the contemporary arts and anthropology.

And last but not least, in preparation for this year's NAFA film festival in Lisbon, Portugal, Peter Crawford / UiT has started a crowdfunding campaign to support travel and accommodation for young Cameroonian filmmaker and UiT visual anthropology student Pierre Lankissa who will present his film Scrap is Our Future as part of the festival this fall. The fundraiser initiative is still up and running and open for any kind of donation, small or large.

Finally, we would like to repeat our mantra from last time: we are nothing without you and your valuable input. We hope that you will join and actively shape this new platform together with us in the future: Can't find your teaching programme or collective on the VA Map? Submit your suggestion here. Did you notice that specific film festivals did not make it into the Calendar yet? Use this link to provide us with the correct info. Are you thinking about writing a review piece for our Blog? We are happy to receive contributions here.

Please observe that the deadline for blog contributions (between 800-2000 words) for the next volume is 30 September 2021. 

Happy reading, and keep safe!

Your editorial team: Anne Sofie, Armina, Anne, Christos and Christian.