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        • Withdrawing 2026 Conference from Bournemouth University
        • Statement in response to UK Supreme Court ruling re. the Equality Act 2010
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        • REF29 Guidance Summary (February 2025)
        • Letter to Education Secretary - 4 February 2025
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        • Letter to Chair of REF29 Steering Group, 18 June 2024
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        • Response to threat of possible job cuts at University of Kent (February 2024)
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        • Response to REF 2028 Consultation (October 2023)
        • Open letter opposing AHRC cuts to PhD studentships
        • Response to possible compulsory redundancies at UEA, March / July 2023
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        • Response to Job Cuts at Birkbeck, November 2022
        • Future Research Assessment Programme 2022 (FRAP)
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Special interest group:
Essay Film

Convenors:  ​
  • Alex Fletcher (University of the Arts, London)
  • Romana Turina (Arts University Bournemouth)​

Overview

The practice and formal analysis of the Essay Film form within the field of film, television and screen studies is an established academic area that is developing quickly with impactful contribution in the way the moving image is studied today. This group focuses on building on these foundations and exploring how the study of the essay film practice can develop within BAFTSS. The group aims to disseminate research and evaluate how the essay film can contribute new knowledge to the field of film studies in terms of its novelty, significance and narrative impact. The group also explores innovative methods of academic dissemination, public engagement and impact.

Reports on activities

  • Essay Film SIG Report 2019

Founding members

  • Jouko Aaltonen (Aalto University)
  • Kyle Barrett (University of the West of Scotland)
  • Rob Coley (University of Lincoln)
  • Jill Daniels (University of East London)
  • ​Felicity Gee (University of Exeter)
  • Kristyn Gorton (University of York)
  • Brenda Hollweg (University of Leeds)
  • Brian Hoyle (University of Dundee)
  • Samuel Kaczorowski (Tokyo Hosei and Toulouse 2)
  • Igor Krstic (University of Reading)
  • Adam Laity (University of the West of England)
  • Ming-Yu Lee (Shih Hsin University)
  • Gillian McIver (University of Roehampton)
  • Rebecca E Marshall (University of the West of England)
  • Des O’Rawe (Queen’s University Belfast)
  • Kayla Parker (University of Plymouth)​
  • Laura Rascaroli (University College Cork)
  • Judith Rifeser (University of Roehampton)
  • Sanghita Sen (University of St Andrews)
  • Shane O’Sullivan (Kingston University)
  • Dafydd Sills-Jones (Aberystwyth University)

Essay Film Online Seminar Series 2024/25

Upcoming seminars


Past seminars
  • 11 October 2024: Laura Rascaroli (University College Cork): 'Sonic Modernities: Capitalism, Noise and the City Essay Film'
  • 12 December 2024: James Slaymaker (Trinity College Dublin): 'Thinking Through Images in Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching the Video Essay in Theory and Practice'
  • 9 January 2025: Alessandra Ferrini: 'Gaddafi in Rome: Dissecting a Neocolonial Spectacle'
  • 31 January 2025: Miranda Pennell: 'Notes from the scene of a crime'

Past Events


Picture
The BAFTSS SIG Essay Film is honoured to co-organise with The Arts University Bournemouth and the Associazione Culturale Bucanevis the TIMES IN-BETWEEN Conference + Festival (10-13 July 2024) in Gorizia, Italy.
The event will see about 30 selected delegates and filmmakers from a dozen different countries coming together for four days of presentations, roundtables, and screenings. 

It will feature the international premiere of three films, as well as the re-screening of The Forest in Me (Marshall, 2023), each a testament to the high-quality creative research produced by the staff from the AUB Film department:

  • Three Sisters in a Sketchbook (Turina, 2024)
  • Into the Frameless Distance to the City of (no) Memory (Gaal-Holmes, 2024)
  • Processing Images from Caracas (Cervera, 2023)

A full programme is available on the Bucanevis Cultural Association website (https://bucanevisnewsletter.com/conferenza/), and a full report on the event will follow on this page.

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Website maintained by Christina Wilkins.
  • Home
  • About
    • About us
    • Advisory Board
    • Branding / Logos
    • Code of Conduct
    • Constitution
    • Contact
    • Executive Committee
    • In Memoriam
      • Brian Winston (1941-2022)
    • Meetings
    • Open Screens (our official journal)
    • Responses / Statements
      • 2025
        • Withdrawing 2026 Conference from Bournemouth University
        • Statement in response to UK Supreme Court ruling re. the Equality Act 2010
        • Joint letter - UK performing arts subject associations to REF Director (March 2025)
        • REF29 Guidance Summary (February 2025)
        • Letter to Education Secretary - 4 February 2025
      • 2024
        • Racism and Islamophobia
        • Letter to Chair of REF29 Steering Group, 18 June 2024
        • Statement on Gaza
        • Response to threat of possible job cuts at University of Kent (February 2024)
      • 2023
        • Response to REF 2028 Consultation (October 2023)
        • Open letter opposing AHRC cuts to PhD studentships
        • Response to possible compulsory redundancies at UEA, March / July 2023
      • 2022
        • Response to Falmouth University re. Falmouth Staffing Ltd (FSL), November 2022
        • Response to Job Cuts at Birkbeck, November 2022
        • Future Research Assessment Programme 2022 (FRAP)
        • Joint MeCCSA and BAFTSS letter regarding Film Studies at Queen Mary, University of London
      • 2021
        • OfS Consultation
        • Screening Complete Audiovisual Works in the Age of Covid-19
      • 2017
        • Response to REF 2021 Consultation (March 2017)
        • Nominating panel members for REF 2021
  • Conference / Awards
    • 2025 Conference / Awards
      • Conference Info and Registration
      • 2025 Awards
        • 2025 Outstanding Achievement Award
        • Winners: Practice Awards 2025
        • Winners: Publication Awards 2025
        • PGR Poster Showcase 2025
    • Conference and Awards Archive
  • Funding
  • Membership
    • Key information
    • Join / renew
  • SIGs
    • Convenor Resources
    • A-E
      • Adaptations
      • Amateur Cinema
      • Animation
      • Archives and Archival Methods
      • British Cinema and Television
      • Colour and Film
      • Documentary
      • East Asian Screen Cultures
      • Essay Film
      • Euro-Bollywood
    • F-J
      • Film and Philosophy
      • Film/Making Education
      • French and Francophone Screen Studies
      • German Screen Studies
      • Horror Studies
    • K-O
      • LGBTQIA+ Screen Studies
      • Media and the Environment
    • P-T
      • Performance and Stardom
      • Practice Research
      • Psychoanalysis and Film
      • Science Fiction and Fantasy
      • Screen Industries
      • Screening Sex
      • Transnational Screens
  • Postgrads / ECRs
    • Early Career Mentoring Scheme
    • New Connections Schedule
      • New Connections Archive
    • Postgraduate Network
      • PGR Network Website