About the Journal

BLACKOUT is an open-access digital academic journal published by the Naples Academy of Fine Arts. The journal was created as a space for critical reflection and interdisciplinary analysis of cinema, film studies, and media studies, extending its scope to television studies, visual studies, game studies, and the intersections between these fields.

BLACKOUT has the following objectives:

  • explore the role of moving images and contemporary audiovisual practices through an innovative and interdisciplinary perspective, capable of capturing the aesthetic, technological, cultural, and sociopolitical transformations characterizing the media landscape;
  • analyze technological and narrative changes in the audiovisual and moving image fields;
  • explore the relationship between cinema, media, and society, analyzing media in their historical, social, and political context, as well as questioning their modes of representation and their cultural impact;
  • promote innovative theoretical approaches and interdisciplinary methodologies;
  • investigate the aesthetics of the uncanny and visual innovation, exploring how audiovisual languages ​​address key contemporary concepts such as crisis, change, and experimentation;
  • foster dialogue between scholars of film, media, and visual arts at the national and international level;
  • encourage the publication of experimental essays (in both text and audiovisual form) that transcend the traditional confines of academic research.

BLACKOUT aims, in short, to be a laboratory of ideas in motion, designed to embrace diverse theoretical approaches, thus fostering dialogue between scholars of film, media, visual arts, and related disciplines.

More specifically, the journal's interdisciplinary approach makes it the ideal platform for contributions adopting perspectives from cinema and film studies (film theory and history, film analysis, film aesthetics, the film industry); media studies (analysis of media evolution, studies of digital platforms, participatory cultures); television studies (new forms of seriality, the relationship between traditional television and streaming, audience transformations); visual studies (theories of the image, visual arts, relationships between still and moving images); cultural studies (media and identity, cultural representations, gender and postcolonial studies); game studies and intermediality (intersections between cinema, videogames, virtual reality, and transmedia narratives).

The journal is supported by an international editorial board composed of scholars in film, media, and visual studies. Collaborations are planned with universities and research centers to promote the dissemination of audiovisual studies; film festivals and cultural institutions to promote events, conferences, and special dossiers; and international academic networks to strengthen the journal's interdisciplinary nature. BLACKOUT is published biannually (two issues per year, in May and November). The articles published in the journal are in Italian and/or English.

Each issue consists of the following sections:

  • Focus On: A thematic dossier dedicated to a specific topic, with contributions selected through a dedicated "Call for Papers" (CfP) with a deadline. The dossiers are edited by guest editors or members of the internal editorial committee and welcome contributions that explore the topic from different perspectives and with an interdisciplinary approach;
  • Articles: Independent research contributions, not tied to the dossier's topic. In this case, the "Call for Papers" (CfP) is always open to select the content for inclusion in each issue. This section publishes scholarly articles that offer original theoretical and methodological reflections, or analyses of specific cases related to the fields of cinema, media, and visual studies;
  • Conversations: Interviews with representatives of contemporary audiovisual culture and the audiovisual industry on topics related to research and/or production;
  • Critical Readings: critical analyses and reinterpretations of key texts in film and media theory, both classic and lesser-known and in need of re-evaluation, to enhance continuity and dialogue with academic tradition and the history of cinema and audiovisual media;
  • Reviews: reviews of academic books, essays, films, TV series, videogames, comics, and exhibitions related to the journal's themes;
  • Audiovisual Experiments: innovative forms of academic writing, such as video essays, documentaries, audiovisual works of creative criticism, and digital experiments that explore innovative ways of conducting research through the use of audiovisual languages.

Alongside the peer-reviewed scientific journal, BLACKOUT also hosts BLACKOUT MAGAZINE, an online editorial section constantly updated with articles, reviews, interviews, festival and cultural event reports, columns, critical notes and in-depth analyses focused on cinema, media and visual cultures. The contributions published in BLACKOUT MAGAZINE follow simplified editorial procedures and are designed to foster rapid, open dialogue with contemporary audiovisual phenomena.