"high concept" meaning in English

See high concept in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˌhaɪ ˈkɒnsɛpt/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌhaɪ ˈkɑnˌsɛpt/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-high concept.wav
Etymology: PIE word *ḱóm From high (adjective) + concept (noun), variously attributed to the American media executives Barry Diller (born 1942) when he was working at the American Broadcasting Company in the 1970s, or Michael Eisner (born 1942) during his term as president of Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984. Etymology templates: {{PIE word|en|ḱóm}} PIE word *ḱóm, {{root|en|ine-pro|*kewk-|*kap-|id2=seize}}, {{compound|en|high|concept|pos1=a|pos2=n}} high (adjective) + concept (noun) Head templates: {{en-adj|?}} high concept
  1. Alternative form of high-concept Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: high-concept
    Sense id: en-high_concept-en-adj-zzuOles6 Categories (other): Entries with translation boxes, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Film, Literature, Television Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 11 38 43 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 17 35 38 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 14 35 38 12 Disambiguation of Film: 23 26 31 19 Disambiguation of Literature: 31 22 25 22 Disambiguation of Television: 30 22 26 22 Topics: broadcasting, film, literature, media, publishing, television

Noun

IPA: /ˌhaɪ ˈkɒnsɛpt/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌhaɪ ˈkɑnˌsɛpt/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-high concept.wav Forms: high concepts [plural]
Etymology: PIE word *ḱóm From high (adjective) + concept (noun), variously attributed to the American media executives Barry Diller (born 1942) when he was working at the American Broadcasting Company in the 1970s, or Michael Eisner (born 1942) during his term as president of Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984. Etymology templates: {{PIE word|en|ḱóm}} PIE word *ḱóm, {{root|en|ine-pro|*kewk-|*kap-|id2=seize}}, {{compound|en|high|concept|pos1=a|pos2=n}} high (adjective) + concept (noun) Head templates: {{en-noun}} high concept (plural high concepts), {{term-label|en|film|literature|television}} (film, literature, television)
  1. An appealing and easily communicable idea for a work (such as a book, film, or television programme). Translations (appealing and easily communicable idea for a work): 高概念 (gāogàiniàn) (Chinese Mandarin), korkea konsepti (Finnish), high concept (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-high_concept-en-noun-6JJ5MzEf Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Film, Television Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 7 38 45 9 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 11 38 43 7 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 42 50 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 4 43 50 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 17 35 38 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 14 35 38 12 Disambiguation of Film: 23 26 31 19 Disambiguation of Television: 30 22 26 22 Topics: broadcasting, film, literature, media, publishing, television Disambiguation of 'appealing and easily communicable idea for a work': 57 26 18
  2. A style of work (such as a book, film, or television programme) characterized by appealing and easily communicable ideas. Translations (style of work characterized by appealing and easily commmunicable ideas): korkea konsepti (Finnish), high concept (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-high_concept-en-noun-DDSyy8Ay Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Film, Television Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 7 38 45 9 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 11 38 43 7 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 42 50 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 4 43 50 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 17 35 38 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 14 35 38 12 Disambiguation of Film: 23 26 31 19 Disambiguation of Television: 30 22 26 22 Topics: broadcasting, film, literature, media, publishing, television Disambiguation of 'style of work characterized by appealing and easily commmunicable ideas': 33 56 10
  3. (by extension, sometimes proscribed) The overarching idea or theme of a work, particularly one perceived as highly artistic or intellectual. Tags: broadly, proscribed, sometimes Translations (overarching idea or theme of a work, particularly one perceived as highly artistic or intellectual): hienostunut aihe (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-high_concept-en-noun-en:overarching_idea Categories (other): Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Film, Television Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 17 35 38 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 14 35 38 12 Disambiguation of Film: 23 26 31 19 Disambiguation of Television: 30 22 26 22 Topics: broadcasting, film, literature, media, publishing, television Disambiguation of 'overarching idea or theme of a work, particularly one perceived as highly artistic or intellectual': 10 4 86
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: high-concept (english: attested slightly before this term) [adjective], elevator pitch

Inflected forms

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          "ref": "1992 December, Jonathan Bernstein, “The Year in Movies”, in Bob Guccione, Jr., editor, Spin, volume 8, number 9, New York, N.Y.: Camouflage Associates, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 81:",
          "text": "Tim Burton's influence [in Batman Returns] loomed large, as half-finished high concepts, consistent only in avoiding the constraints of plot, motive, and logic, abounded.",
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          "ref": "1994, Justin Wyatt, “A Critical Redefinition: The Concept of High Concept”, in High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood, Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 13:",
          "text": "[Steven] Spielberg's opinion relates well to the vision of high concept expressed by other Hollywood representatives: a striking, easily reducible narrative which also offers a high degree of marketability.",
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          "ref": "1999, Kristin Thompson, “Desperately Seeking Susan”, in Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique, Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 153:",
          "text": "High concept, to the degree that it describes an actual phenomenon, seems to me to have little to do with the decline of the auteurists. Rather, it is an intensification of certain elements of the old system resulting from the exponentially rising production costs of films and the unpredictability of the exhibition market.",
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          "text": "It is important to note that the 'high-tech' visual style typical for high concept changes over time, just as technology advances and popular culture undergoes transitions. […] Another aspect of high concept in television news is the simplification of the story into a marketable concept as already discussed in relation to Hollywood movies.",
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          "text": "Von Trier [Lars von Trier]'s high concept is too sloppily executed to suggest he really cares that much. Most of Dancer in the Dark ranges from mediocre (music and choreography) to laughably bad. The needlessly queasy camera movement and smeary visuals, acting that often feels like a read-through, and a script neither based on research (check out the American courtroom protocol) or any real logic. Its compensation is this: At least Dancer in the Dark is bad in a complicated way.",
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          "ref": "2009, Tayari Jones, “[Review of Rebel Yell]”, in Alice Randall, Rebel Yell […], New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury USA, →ISBN:",
          "text": "This is a novel of ideas—brimming with high concepts and complicated philosophical questions. At the same time, it is a novel full of heart.",
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          "ref": "2024 February 23, Scott Campbell, “Christopher Nolan explains ‘Tenet’”, in Far Out, London, archived from the original on 2025-02-27:",
          "text": "In fact, [Christopher] Nolan admits that it's a lot easier to simply watch the movie and grasp it from there. \"That's the fun thing about Tenet for me, is that it's harder to talk about than just watch it and understand it,\" he said. Nonetheless, he gave additional insight into the machinations behind the highest of high concepts.",
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          "highly"
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          "artistic#Adjective"
        ],
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          "intellectual#Adjective"
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        "(by extension, sometimes proscribed) The overarching idea or theme of a work, particularly one perceived as highly artistic or intellectual."
      ],
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          "word": "hienostunut aihe"
        }
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    "American Broadcasting Company",
    "Barry Diller",
    "Michael Eisner",
    "Paramount Pictures"
  ],
  "word": "high concept"
}
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    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kap- (seize)",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kewk-",
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      "expansion": "high (adjective) + concept (noun)",
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "PIE word\n *ḱóm\nFrom high (adjective) + concept (noun), variously attributed to the American media executives Barry Diller (born 1942) when he was working at the American Broadcasting Company in the 1970s, or Michael Eisner (born 1942) during his term as president of Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984.",
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    {
      "form": "high concepts",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "high concept (plural high concepts)",
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    },
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        "4": "television"
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      "expansion": "(film, literature, television)",
      "name": "term-label"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "high"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "english": "attested slightly before this term",
      "tags": [
        "adjective"
      ],
      "word": "high-concept"
    },
    {
      "word": "elevator pitch"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "low concept"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              74,
              87
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1992 December, Jonathan Bernstein, “The Year in Movies”, in Bob Guccione, Jr., editor, Spin, volume 8, number 9, New York, N.Y.: Camouflage Associates, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 81:",
          "text": "Tim Burton's influence [in Batman Returns] loomed large, as half-finished high concepts, consistent only in avoiding the constraints of plot, motive, and logic, abounded.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              59,
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            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1994, Justin Wyatt, “A Critical Redefinition: The Concept of High Concept”, in High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood, Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 13:",
          "text": "[Steven] Spielberg's opinion relates well to the vision of high concept expressed by other Hollywood representatives: a striking, easily reducible narrative which also offers a high degree of marketability.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An appealing and easily communicable idea for a work (such as a book, film, or television programme)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "appealing",
          "appealing#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "easily",
          "easily"
        ],
        [
          "communicable",
          "communicable"
        ],
        [
          "idea",
          "idea"
        ],
        [
          "work",
          "work#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "book",
          "book#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "film",
          "film#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "television program",
          "television program"
        ]
      ],
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        "broadcasting",
        "film",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "television"
      ]
    },
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          "word": "low concept"
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      ],
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          "ref": "1999, Kristin Thompson, “Desperately Seeking Susan”, in Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique, Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 153:",
          "text": "High concept, to the degree that it describes an actual phenomenon, seems to me to have little to do with the decline of the auteurists. Rather, it is an intensification of certain elements of the old system resulting from the exponentially rising production costs of films and the unpredictability of the exhibition market.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014, Chris Veits, “Literature Review”, in Conflict Coverage Promotion: High Quality or High Concept? A Multimodal Analysis of Claims-making in Conflict Coverage Promotional Sports of Al Jazeera English and CNN International, Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing, →ISBN, pages 20–21:",
          "text": "It is important to note that the 'high-tech' visual style typical for high concept changes over time, just as technology advances and popular culture undergoes transitions. […] Another aspect of high concept in television news is the simplification of the story into a marketable concept as already discussed in relation to Hollywood movies.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A style of work (such as a book, film, or television programme) characterized by appealing and easily communicable ideas."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "style",
          "style#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "characterize",
          "characterize"
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      ],
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        "broadcasting",
        "film",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "television"
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    },
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      "categories": [
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        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              29,
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            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2000 October 6, Liam Lacey, “Bad, but in a complicated way”, in The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ont.: The Globe and Mail Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-05-26:",
          "text": "Von Trier [Lars von Trier]'s high concept is too sloppily executed to suggest he really cares that much. Most of Dancer in the Dark ranges from mediocre (music and choreography) to laughably bad. The needlessly queasy camera movement and smeary visuals, acting that often feels like a read-through, and a script neither based on research (check out the American courtroom protocol) or any real logic. Its compensation is this: At least Dancer in the Dark is bad in a complicated way.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              39,
              52
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2009, Tayari Jones, “[Review of Rebel Yell]”, in Alice Randall, Rebel Yell […], New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury USA, →ISBN:",
          "text": "This is a novel of ideas—brimming with high concepts and complicated philosophical questions. At the same time, it is a novel full of heart.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              318,
              331
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024 February 23, Scott Campbell, “Christopher Nolan explains ‘Tenet’”, in Far Out, London, archived from the original on 2025-02-27:",
          "text": "In fact, [Christopher] Nolan admits that it's a lot easier to simply watch the movie and grasp it from there. \"That's the fun thing about Tenet for me, is that it's harder to talk about than just watch it and understand it,\" he said. Nonetheless, he gave additional insight into the machinations behind the highest of high concepts.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The overarching idea or theme of a work, particularly one perceived as highly artistic or intellectual."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "overarching",
          "overarching#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "theme",
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        ],
        [
          "perceive",
          "perceive"
        ],
        [
          "highly",
          "highly"
        ],
        [
          "artistic",
          "artistic#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "intellectual",
          "intellectual#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension, sometimes proscribed) The overarching idea or theme of a work, particularly one perceived as highly artistic or intellectual."
      ],
      "senseid": [
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      ],
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        "broadly",
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        "sometimes"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "broadcasting",
        "film",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "television"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhaɪ ˈkɒnsɛpt/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhaɪ ˈkɑnˌsɛpt/",
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        "General-American"
      ]
    },
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    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "gāogàiniàn",
      "sense": "appealing and easily communicable idea for a work",
      "word": "高概念"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "appealing and easily communicable idea for a work",
      "word": "korkea konsepti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "appealing and easily communicable idea for a work",
      "word": "high concept"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "style of work characterized by appealing and easily commmunicable ideas",
      "word": "korkea konsepti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "style of work characterized by appealing and easily commmunicable ideas",
      "word": "high concept"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "overarching idea or theme of a work, particularly one perceived as highly artistic or intellectual",
      "word": "hienostunut aihe"
    }
  ],
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    "American Broadcasting Company",
    "Barry Diller",
    "Michael Eisner",
    "Paramount Pictures",
    "Simon & Schuster"
  ],
  "word": "high concept"
}

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    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
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    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *ḱóm",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
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    "en:Literature",
    "en:Television"
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    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "high",
        "3": "concept",
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        "pos2": "n"
      },
      "expansion": "high (adjective) + concept (noun)",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "PIE word\n *ḱóm\nFrom high (adjective) + concept (noun), variously attributed to the American media executives Barry Diller (born 1942) when he was working at the American Broadcasting Company in the 1970s, or Michael Eisner (born 1942) during his term as president of Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "high concept",
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    "high"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "high-concept"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of high-concept"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "high-concept",
          "high-concept#English"
        ]
      ],
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        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "television"
      ]
    }
  ],
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        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
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      "ipa": "/ˌhaɪ ˈkɑnˌsɛpt/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
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    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "American Broadcasting Company",
    "Barry Diller",
    "Michael Eisner",
    "Paramount Pictures"
  ],
  "word": "high concept"
}

Download raw JSONL data for high concept meaning in English (11.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (074e7de and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.