The conference will take place on September 16th, 17th, and 18th at the University of Regina and MacKenzie Art Gallery. SonImage is a collaborative effort, involving the University of Regina’s Institut Français, Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Arts (Departments of French and Philosophy, Canada Research Chair in Social Justice), and the Humanities Research Institute, as well as Campion College, The MacKenzie Art Gallery and The General Consulate of France. The SonImage conference will map Godard's enormous influence on the theory and practise of image and sound in cinema. Over 25 scholars/critics, hailing from France, UK, Austria, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada, aswell as students of the University of Regina, will present papers on various aspects of Godard’s oeuvre. The breadth of themes they will explore – stardom, pop culture, film music, issues of contemporary and historic representation, questions of ideology and film theory – constitute a clear testament to Jean-Luc Godard’s interdisciplinary approach to film.

As Jean-Luc Godard turns 80, one of his earliest films, A bout de souffle (Breathless) turns 50. This ground-breaking Nouvelle Vague film is as fresh now as it was in 1960! Since then, Godard's audacious "take it to the streets" way of filmmaking has inspired many "new waves" around the world. His famous jump-cuts, now a regular post-modern staple of music videos, were considered shocking in 1960, while his elegant long takes, designed with sometimes acrobatic gusto by his regular collaborator, the cinematographer Raoul Coutard, have designated him as a proud heir to the 1930s tradition of French Poetic Realism. By borrowing boldly from all the arts, literature, philosophy, politics, pop culture and advertising, Godard has created a sophisticated cinematic language and a signature style, known for brazen intertextual references and blending of public and private spaces. It is this compelling cinematic language and style that helps us to look critically at the world we live in, and to scrutinize our material culture from his profoundlyinformed perspective of a philosopher, historian, social scientist, cultural critic, film theorist, and an artist.

The conference organizers are proud to announce that the SonImage conference coincides with a major exhibition at Regina’s MacKenzie Art Gallery by Vancouver artist Ian Wallace, entitled Ian Wallace: Masculin/Féminin, and video screenings of Soft and Hard (A Soft Conversation on Hard Subjects) by Jean-Luc Godard and Anne-Marie Miéville, which will launch a four-month (September – December), city-wide celebration of Godardian research, performance, exhibitions, and screenings, all leading up to the December 3, the 80th birthday of Jean-Luc Godard.

The SonImage conference, the exhibitions and the city-wide celebrations create an opportunity for academics, artists and the community at large to honour the contribution of Jean-Luc Godard to film and film theory.

A detailed conference program, synopsis of presentations and information on the conference’s keynote speaker Jean Roy and artist Ian Wallace are available at the conference website: http://www2.uregina.ca/sonimage/