We’re trying to keep ticket costs down. Our current thinking is £4 for one film, or £10 for a festival pass (all 8 films plus Frayling and van Husen talks). There will be a separate (higher) rate for the conference, but that will give access to everything over the three days. We’re doing some merchandise too, which will be on sale at the venue, again very cheaply (t-shirts, posters, badges: the benefit of doing a festival through a university is that we have expertise and facilities on-campus, so overheads aren’t too much).
Is their any local cheap accommodation? I don’t think I’d make it back home to SW London each night.
Wow those are very than reasonable prices! Even a little too cheap if you ask me lol.
Yodlaf: there’s an EasyHotel just around the corner from the venue. Depends how cheap you’re prepared to go!
Col. Mortimer: this isn’t a for-profit enterprise, so we’d rather make it open to all. It’s being funded by my department at the University of Bedfordshire, both as an academic event and as a chance to “reach out” to the community with our endeavours. If I can put my university on the map as a centre of Spaghetti Studies, then my job here is done.
Brilliant news!! 
Can I book a festival pass; a teeshirt; a couple of badges; and a souvenir spaghetti-themed crate of Bedfordshire cider please?
Well done Austin! 8)
I’ll be there.
[quote=“Austin Fisher, post:24, topic:3021”]Yodlaf: there’s an EasyHotel just around the corner from the venue. Depends how cheap you’re prepared to go![/quote]Very cheap!!!
I’m a jobless bum at the moment 
You know I’m there for sure, Austin.
Luton in spring time…wouldn’t miss it.
Latest update on the festival: tickets are now on sale through the Luton Culture website: [url]http://bit.ly/VP5lsj[/url]
Prices: £4 per film (£2 concessions) / £10 for all 8 films plus Frayling & Van Husen talks / £15 conference delegate pass.
I hope to see as many of you as can make it there!
Thanks,
Austin.
Conference delegate pass (every event): £15
Festival pass (every film plus 2 talks): £10
What’s the difference Austin?
Hi. To clarify:
[ul][li]The £10 festival pass gets you in to all eight films, plus the Frayling and van Husen talks.[/li]
[li]The £15 conference delegate pass gets you into the above, plus the two-day academic conference (during the mornings/afternoons of Friday 12th-Saturday 13th), which has 19 speakers from universities around the world presenting scholarly papers on the genre. This conference will hopefully form the basis of a new academic book in the months to come.[/li][/ul]
Cheers, more than likely go for the £10 one.
The other one is probably too much for me to handle with Scholary characters reading too deep into films and finding meanings that aren’t really there instead of just enjoying the entertainment.
You can see that he would have been a tormented tortured child - How? No flashbacks etc, the man could have turned evil anytime.
Longing for the older woman he obviously wants a mother figure - No, he just likes older women.
There is definitely a homosexual element - No there isn’t, they are just buddies.
etc
If you can convince me otherwise I may go, but I’ll definitely go to the films
Those are “academic” readings that would fail if any of my students dared to come out with them, let alone eminent scholars. Film Studies has moved on a lot since the days of Freudianism’s heyday: far more about historical and cultural contextualisation, film history and deeper understanding of production and distribution processes. I don’t expect non-academics to be interested in academic conferences, but such caricatures are a very long way off the mark.
@Austin
I tried twice now to call the Luton Culture Centre to book a ticket and got an answer phone both times which just tells you to leave a message and phone number and someone will call you back. I’ve done that and no one has called back yet.
I’ll try again tomorrow. Do you know if the desk is manned at particular times?
Hi Phil. I’m not sure about how the theatre operates to be honest. You can buy tickets online which is probably the easier/safer option. Have you tried this too (I hope that’s working OK)?
Will give it a try now.
All sorted. 8)
I’ve booked a full delegate pass. Any chance of getting a run down on the speakers and topics, Austin? Or will this go on the facebook page?
Good to hear it Phil! I look forward to seeing you there.
Yes, I’m going to get publicising the speakers and their talk titles soon. For obvious reasons, most of my promotional efforts have been going into the films so far, but we’ve got some really great speakers coming to present their research.
Looking forward to the list of speakers and the news of a potential forthcoming book. Out of curiosity, will the book’s contents come entirely from the speakers at the conference, or will there be an additional CFP?
Good question! For the time being, I’m giving the speakers at the conference the opportunity to be in the book, and the book’s outline will be very close to the conference remit (ie transnational / transcultural borrowings, legacies, influences on and from the Spaghetti Western).
However, as editor I will need to ensure a coherent and rigorous collection of chapters that will convince the publisher of the need to publish. If I have gaps that need filling once the conference has finished, I may well put out a call for papers.