The
Project
Database
An
invaluable research resource in an exciting new area of French cultural
studies the site comprises profiles of nearly 200 Francophone film stars,
film descriptions and a database of references of press, radio and television
coverage of Francophone film celebrities between 1949 and the present
day. Publications selected for the database give a broad social and cultural
perspective on film stars and the star concept. General mass-market titles
like Paris-Match and Voici are complemented by titles conceived
along the lines of gender, sexuality and age. Thus, included are magazines
with a largely female readership like Cinémonde and Festival
and the magazine Lui, directed primarily at men. Gai Pied
and Lesbia and Masques give an insight into how film stars
are perceived by gay men and lesbians and Salut les copains and
Mademoiselle Age tendre present stars in the context of the emerging
youth culture of the 1960s. Industry publications like Les Cahiers
du cinéma and Première also figure on the database as do French,
British and American newspapers and radio and television programmes dating
back to the late 1950s. Where possible, each reference is illustrated
with a quote from the text of the press article or television/radio interview
and, in many cases, is complemented by a detailed summary of the content
of the article or broadcast. The site is continually being updated and
improved upon with a long term aim of broadening the scope of the database
to encompass publications from Francophone countries other than France
and publications which address stardom from a specifically beur or black
perspective. At a later stage it is also intended to enlarge the database
to include Francophone film stars from the pre-war era.