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)

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Essay Film Online Seminar Series 2024/25

Upcoming seminars

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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'
  

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Past Events

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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.